The Maximoffs
by I'mADisgrace
Summary: In which the Maximoff family is incredibly rich, Kate is a journalist trying to cope with being cut off and Billy and Teddy are clueless. AU with no superpowers, Erik, Wanda, Pietro, Billy, Tommy and Lorna all being referred to as Maximoffs and Vision as Victor Shade. (Mostly character exploration to begin with, development later).
1. The Maximoffs

"Being cut off is so much harder than I thought it would be!" Kate whined, practically collapsing against the cold plastic of the table top,

"You were the one who wanted to go out and get a job" Teddy reminded her, "You didn't want to keep relying on your dad remember" he added as he took a sip of his coffee,

"I know! I know! But if I don't get another story to the paper soon they're going to fire me! It's so unfair!" she complained, mostly to the table.

Herself and the blonde were sat opposite one another in a diner, drinking foul tasting coffee that Kate was beginning to think she wouldn't have the money to pay for. It'd been four weeks since she insisted that her father cut off all of her allowances so that she might try and prove herself in the real world… it wasn't going well.

"The real world isn't fair Kate" Teddy said, putting down his empty mug,

The girl in question frowned and looked up at him, "Help me Ted, please" she whispered, hoping that she was giving him her most convincing puppy-dog eyes,

"I'd love to, but what can I do?" he asked.

"Heard about any drug dealers in your area? A string of muggings? Cat's stuck in trees!?" Kate asked, becoming more and more desperate by the moment,

"Afraid not" he answered,

The ravenette let out an unamused chuckle, "Then maybe you'd do what a real best friend would do when his favourite person was in need of a new story?",

"And what's that?" Teddy asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously,

"Go out and commit some crime that I can report on?" she suggested.

The blonde smiled softly, "No can do, sorry",

Kate groaned once more and reacquainted herself with the table.

"I might have something…" Teddy spoke after a moment,

"What!?" the girl exclaimed, looking up at him with such speed who was surprised that she didn't have whiplash, "What is it?!",

"No, forget it, it's a stupid idea" he said shaking his head,

"No!" Kate insisted, now standing, not caring that she was creating a scene, "There are so stupid ideas!",

"Really? 'There are no stupid ideas'?" he countered, "I'm pretty sure at this point we can call you practically begging your dad to cut you off, a stupid idea",

The ravenette shot him a deep frown, "I swear to god Altman" she began, finally sitting once more, "You better tell me your stupid idea right now" she hissed.

Teddy sighed, "You know the Maximoffs right?" he said looking around the diner briefly, checking that no one else was listening to their conversation apparently,

"Err, yes" Kate answered, rolling her eyes.

Everyone in the city knew about the Maximoffs. They were the richest (and possible the most attractive) family in the city (maybe even the state- as they technically didn't live in the city).

"Well… I can get you into their house to interview them… maybe",

"No, way… No way! How?" she asked, now smiling uncontrollably,

"I know William Maximoff, he's a… he's a friend" the blonde shrugged,

Kate's expression dropped a little, "How on Earth do you know William Maximoff?", she was becoming a little sceptical of this idea now,

"Not important, do you want the interview or not?" he said dismissively,

"Of course, if you can in fact get it for me" she challenged him, folding her arms and sitting back on the booth.

"Give me a minute, I'll just drop him a text" Teddy got out his phone and tapped away at it for a few seconds, it buzzed after a short pause and he smiled at whatever response he'd gotten,

A few more texts were exchanged apparently, until Teddy was smiling widely and his phone was being pushed back into his jeans pocket.

"Come on, let's go" he said as he stood, picking up his jacket from the booth and putting it over his shoulder,

"What?" Kate asked, watching him with a confused expression,

"You want this interview? We've got to go now" the blonde shrugged,

"Oh., okay" she answered, standing quickly and following the man from the diner, slightly in shock at the pace of how everything was going.

"I can't believe you got me this gig! Teddy… I honestly, one hundred percent love you, for real" Kate squealed as the two of them walked together up the long gravel drive that led to the Maximoff mansion.

Kate's surprise that had started at the diner had increased tenfold over the last twenty minutes; firstly of course there was the prospect of getting this job, secondly there was the peculiar little details Teddy knew about the family, like where they would be when during the day, thirdly (and slightly less impressively) there was the fact that Kate could actually afford to pay the cab fare to the mansion, and lastly there was the wonderful surprise that they had been allowed to enter through the front gate when the guard had seen Teddy.

"This is just a trial, we'll see how it all goes" Teddy smirked,

"Either way, thank you" Kate smiled, looking over to him,

The blonde blushed lightly and shook his head.

The two of them continued up the hill until Kate found herself stopping in her tracks, the sight ahead of her too just shocking to take in.

Coming down the drive towards herself and Teddy was the rich -and therefore powerful- teenage grandson of Erik Maximoff, William Maximoff

And he was wearing quite possibly the dorkiest outfit that Kate had ever seen.

The dark haired teen was wearing a shiny grey shirt with all of the buttons fastened and a pair of skinny black jeans that showed just how skinny his legs were. His shoes were made of blue canvas, but the rubber soles were bright red, matching the vivid bowtie that he also wore around his neck.

"Teddy" William beamed as he approached them,

"Hey" the blonde in question smiled,

They embraced in a friendly hug and Kate couldn't help but stare as they pulled away, she couldn't be sure, but she thought she had seen at least one of them blush.

"You must be Kate" William said with a bright expression, offering a hand to her,

"…Hi" she replied slowly, still having a hard time believing that this was all happening, she took his hand all the same and shook it softly,

"Kate this is Billy" Teddy said gesturing to the teen,

"Billy?" Kate asked, a small smile spreading across her lips.

"Oh yeah, everyone calls me Billy" he nodded, "Apart from my granddad" he added, scratching the back of his head nervously,

"Noted" she nodded,

"Let's get up there then" Teddy smiled,

"Let's" Billy agreed.

The three of them then started towards the magnificent house once more, their feet crunching across the gravel,

"How much will I have access to then?" Kate asked as they neared the front door,

"I figured you could take a tour around the house, and get interviews with my family" Billy replied,

"That's be great but… who exactly would I be talking to?"

"Well there's me and my brother, my dad's not about much because of work, but my mom is, and so is my uncle, we don't see much of my aunt either… I guess that just leaves my granddad, he's always about",

"That's a lot to get through" Kate commented, slightly worried by the prospect of having to talk to the real Erik Maximoff,

"Hey, you wanted a job" Teddy reminded her,

"True" she agreed.

They had almost gotten to the ornate front door of the house when the roar of engines flared behind them. The three teens turned and were greeted with the sight of two motorcycles coming up the drive; the bikes were sleek and large, one an electric blue, the leather clad figure a top it clearly an adult, and the other bike a gaudy bright green, a slightly smaller figure on top.

The two bikes stopped and the riders took off their helmets in unison, revealing two men, one young and one who must have been in his late thirties or early forties; there may have been an age gap between the two, but they clearly shared looks.

The first was Pietro Maximoff, Billy's uncle, and the other was Thomas Maximoff, Billy's almost identical twin brother.

"You're getting pretty fast Tommy" Pietro said plainly, dismounting his bike and unzipping his leather jacket,

"Fast enough to beat you any day" Tommy replied with a laugh as he did the same,

"Not yet" his uncle said simply, beginning to push his bike towards the large garages at the other side of the driveway,

"Yeah right" the white haired twin snorted as he followed him,

"And that would be my uncle and brother" Billy said folding his arms,

"Right" Kate nodded.

The most glamorous woman Kate had ever seen was descending the stairs.

She was dressed in a tight red dress that exaggerated her hips and breasts, a thin layer of pink lace then spread up over her chest and shoulders. Her tumbling brown hair was held back from falling on her face by a red scarf, showing off the large earrings that dangled from her lobes. Lastly, her lips were painted with a dark burgundy colour, making her skin look even paler.

"Hey mom, this is Kate, the journalist friend of Teddy's" Billy said with a smile, gesturing towards the girl in question,

The ravenette couldn't help but shrunk under the gaze of Wanda Maximoff as the woman approached her with a look of cold indifference.

Wanda's expression became warmer as she reached out and tucked a piece of Kate's hair behind her ear however, and she ran her palm across the girls jaw affectionately,

"Very pretty" she said softly, she then looked to her son, "Is your brother back?",

"Yeah, he just got home" Billy nodded, pushing his hands into his pockets,

"Good" Wanda replied, she then looked back to Kate, "I'm sure we'll talk again soon",

And with that, she glided from the room before the girl could answer.

"Wow" Kate commented when she was sure that the woman was out of earshot, "Your mom is like really intimidating"

That earned a laugh from the two boys,

"I know, I live with her" Billy laughed.

The front door of the house then opened behind them and the head of Thomas Maximoff popped out from behind it,

"Billy!" he hissed at his brother

"What?"

"Where's mom?"

"She just went into the living room, she was wondering if you were home" he replied,

"Crap" the white haired teen frowned, "I was meant to be grounded but I snuck out for a ride, was she pissed?" he asked entering the foyer properly and closing the door behind him.

"You know it's hard to tell" Billy answered with a shrug,

"True" Tommy nodded, his eyes then fell on Kate, "Who's this then?" he asked, a charming smile covering his face,

"This is Kate" Teddy answered.

The teen took Kate's hand into his own and he kissed her knuckles softly, "Enchanté",

Both Billy and Teddy rolled their eyes at this display; Kate on the other hand did not know how to react.

Tommy certainly lived up to the attractive label that all Maximoffs did.

The teen had a head of platinum white hair that was shaved at the sides to reveal pierced ears with large plugs. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and a green jumper, a white horizontal stripe across the front of it, like his brother he also wore a pair of skinny black jeans, but he also had a pair of bright orange sunglasses hung from one of the back pockets.

"Billy, why is this lovely creature here?" Tommy asked, his eyes focused entirely on Kate,

"Kate's a journalist, she's going to ask some questions and have a look around" his brother answered,

"She's going to write a piece on you guys for the gazette" Teddy added,

"A journalist?" he asked softly, "Interesting",

Kate could feel herself blushing.

Tommy opened his mouth to speak once more, but a muffled call came from the next room and his eyes widened,

"Was that mom?",

"I think so" Billy answered looking at the door that the call had come from, he then turned back to look at his brother, but the teen was already rushing up the stairs, the dark haired twin shrugged and looked a Kate, "Want the tour then?".

"…And this" Billy said is the downstairs study opening the doors,

"Wow" Kate nodded, walking to the centre of the huge room,

She drank in the impressive decoration, thinking that she'd have trouble counting the back cases, let alone the books. As the girl pivoted on her heal she noticed a patch of wall free, "Family portraits?", she asked pointing at an area covered in framed paintings and photos,

"Err, yeah, take a look" he nodded as he watched Teddy perch himself on the back of a couch, facing the pictures as well, smiling fondly at the as if he'd seen them before,

Kate walked to the wall and began to look over the pictures.

The first portrait she laid eyes on depicted Wanda Maximoff and a man that Kate had seen before, many times in fact when reading and watching the news, but had not yet met.

It was Victor Shade, Wanda's husband who while originally from England, spent most of his time now travelling between America and Europe, acting as the third in command at Stark industries, one of the country's biggest technology firms. In the picture both Wanda and Victor were considerably younger than they were now, and they were clearly dressed for their wedding.

Wanda wore a beautiful, sleek white dress that hugged her body with the silky fabric, her waved brown hair was covered by a glittering veil, and her eyes were lined with elegant flicks of black. Victor was dressed in a crisp suit, his pale blonde hair thin as it always had been, but neat all the same. Both were smiling, stood as if they were posing for one of those awkward prom photos, his hands resting on her hips.

On the wall around the outside of the portrait were smaller photographs of Wanda and Victor, her dressed in a white hospital gown and sat in a bed, covered waist down by a blanket; and he looking surprisingly bedraggled compared to how he usually appeared, his shirt unbuttoned showing his clavicles and his sleeves rolled up to the elbows revealing his strong forearms. In each image one of the two of them held a child, or supposedly one of two children, as Kate assumed that the pictures were taken not longer after the birth of Billy and Tommy, and that they were in fact the children.

Kate then looked to the next image. It was photo, but it had been blown up and printed on a canvas.

The image showed Wanda and Pietro with the young faces of Billy and Tommy acting as their peculiar smaller doppelgängers. Tommy sat on his uncle's shoulders, a large smile on his face, and Billy stood in front of his mother, her body hunched down so that she could embrace him from behind.

The largest image was another painted portrait, showing apparently the whole family.

The back row was the adults, Wanda, Victor and Pietro.

Wanda wore a red dress (as was her usual aesthetic), and Pietro was wearing a blue turtle neck, Victor stood between them, dressed in a black suit jacket and tie with a red shirt. Billy stood in front of his mother, dressed in yet another grey shirt and red bowtie combination and Tommy was also wearing a green jumper that was not too dissimilar to what he'd been wearing when Kate had met him. The lighter haired of the two was resting his hand on the back of a tall winged chair that was covered in red leather.

Sat in the chair was an imposing grey haired man.

It was Eric Maximoff, the head of the family.

He wore a dark purple suit and a burgundy cape slung over his shoulders, a waist coat of the same colour fastened under his jacket.

Kate opened her mouth to speak, but her eye was caught by what must have been the smallest picture, it was hung by the side of the huge family portrait and the quality was grainy, but she could just about make it out,

It showed a man who could only have been a young Eric Maximoff, his piercing blue eyes were far too recognisable.

On his right, gripping his hand was a little girl wearing a pretty pink dress, her brown hair in mad curls around her face, on his left was a boy of the same age with a head of white hair, wearing a pale blue shirt. Finally, nestled in Eric's left arm was a baby, it's head sparsely covered with yellow hair.

"Is that your aunt?" Kate asked pointing at the baby,

"Oh, yeah" Billy nodded, glancing at the image she pointed at,

"What's she like?" she then said, looking over to Billy whose concentration was on something else,

"Lorna?" he replied, "She's… nice… I guess, we don't see a lot of her" he shrugged,

The girl also lifted her shoulder, "Some pretty impressive pictures here" she added, taking a step back from the wall,

"Yeah, granddad likes us to get portraits done" Billy nodded.

Kate gave the pictures a final look and then joined Teddy leaning against the back of one of the sofa's, her arms folded over her chest; she smiled at the dark haired teen "So when do I start interviewing?".

(Author's Notes. The outfits I describe are somewhat based on the work of Kevin Wada, his stuff is awesome, check it out. Also I described the outfits so much because I thought it was kind of funny imagining what dorky stuff Billy would wear, and from there I just thought about everyone else. I used Vision's alter ego for his name, but I made him look like Paul Bettany, best of both worlds, so you're welcome ^^ And the brief mention of Lorna is because I guess she's family and all, but I really hate Polaris XD).


	2. Wanda Maximoff

Kate watched as Wanda entered the study.

She held a constant air of grace, and she seemed to float across the floor to the spare chair, tucking the skirt of her dress under her with a swift movement of her arm as she sat,

She straightened in her seat and then looked at Kate with a warm smile, "Ready to start?" she asked.

The journalist broke the trance she was stuck in and she bent forward, fumbling with her bag, "One second", she pulled out a notebook and pen as well as a small recording device and she laid them out across the table before her, "You don't mind if I record do you?",

"No" Wanda assured her.

The ravenette turned on the voice recorder and then picked up her notebook, opening it as she did so, so that she could rest the nib of her pen on the paper,

"So" she began, looking at up at Wanda, "Does your husbands work effect your relationship with him?",

The woman's eyebrow raised and she laughed gently, "Just jumping straight into it aren't you?" she joked,

Kate blushed,

"It's fine, I trust that you're an excellent writer, I'm sure you'll pad it out with an introduction" the brunette said with a dismissive hand wave, "In answer to your question, I'd have to say a resounding no".

The girl opposite her blinked, "'No'?",

"No" she laughed, "It's hard without him yes, but as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I've never been more in love with Victor",

This answer was certainly a surprise, the icy exterior or Wanda Maximoff was starting to come off as nothing but a media lie,

"But surely it's difficult raising two teenage boys without your husband here to help you?" Kate suggested.

"Again, it's difficult" Wanda answered, she then smiled, "But raising children depends entirely on what the child is like, let me put it this way, if I were raising two Billy's, it wouldn't be an issue" she smirked, "But of course, having Pietro around really helps",

Kate nodded and finished making a quick note, "So what do you think of your brother's relationship with your sons then?",

The woman let out a thunderous laugh, "He's a terrible influence on Tommy as you may have already seen, but luckily Billy's smart enough to fall into it" she answered.

The ravenette had to admit that she saw more similarities between Tommy and Pietro than just their looks, she was starting to see that Wanda Maximoff was an incredibly loving woman, despite what the tabloids might have said,

"Would you ever consider having more children?" Kate asked,

At this the brunette's smile finally faltered, "You probably don't know this, it was before your time after all, but before I had Billy and Tommy I had a miscarriage" she began,

The journalist suddenly felt like the worst person in the world for asking,

Wanda clearly saw this, "Don't worry, it was a reasonable question, and it was a long time ago" she assured her, "It was going to be twin boys, but they died very late in the pregnancy; me and Victor had to wait a year before we tried again. Even with Billy and Tommy there were complications" she then shrugged softly, "Having children was one of the best experiences of my life, but I don't think I could have more children now, especially at my age" she concluded, her small, reassuring smile appearing once more.

Kate was touched, she was certain that her perception of Wanda Maximoff could not be turned around anymore,

"One last question?" she asked with a gentle smile,

"Shoot" the woman nodded,

"How did you and Mr Shade meet?", Kate asked, looking up from her notepad,

Wanda faltered once more, her mouth opening and then promptly closing again as she eyed the voice recorder lying between them on the table,

"If you don't mind… I'd rather the full story didn't make it into the papers, we're a very private family and there are some details that I'd like to keep close to home" she said calmly, looking at the girl with an apologetic smile.

Without a second thought, Kate picked up the recording device and she turned it off, she then folded her notebook closed and got comfortable in her seat, "I'd like to hear the story all the same, it doesn't have to go into the column" she promised,

Wanda looked intrigued but still a little unsure, "It won't leave this room?" she asked,

Kate shook her head, "It's just between us",

"Between the girls?" The woman suggested, she then nodded softly, "I suppose that that would be reasonable" she smiled.

The ravenette smiled back and she crossed her legs, preparing to listen to a long story,

"Oddly, the story must begin with my family and the _Stark_ family, as you probably know, the Starks and the Maximoffs have never really seen eye to eye, at least they didn't used to...

No one knew for sure what caused the feud between the two families, different stories offered different explanations.  
Some said that it was down to a relationship that ended badly between Wanda Maximoff and Tony Stark, however the two had only gone on one 'date' (granted, it had ended badly), and in reality, the dinner outing had been an attempt to fix the feud- it had soured the relationship, but it definitely wasn't the origin of the argument.  
Another suggestion was that Howard Stark, Tony Stark's father, had flirted shamelessly with (and possibly slept with) Magda Maximoff, angering Erik Maximoff, who was of course her husband. Magda was a faithful wife however, and Howard had only commented on her appearance to get a rise out of Erik in the first place, so that didn't serve as an explanation either.  
No, no one really knew why the feud existed, all they knew was that it did.  
Victor Shade had nothing to his name except for his outstanding qualifications as an administrator and impeccable manners. He'd made his way to Stark industries quite by accident, and once he was there he made his way up from the bottom, becoming head office manager in only a few years.  
At the time, the company's CEO, Tony Stark was known for his tendency to, shall we say flirt(?) with his female members of staff, especially his assistant's assistant. This meant that they didn't stay at the company for long.  
One day while milling around the office, Mr Stark noticed that his assistant Miss Pepper Potts had a new assistant, but he was no pretty young lady.  
It was of course, Victor Shade.  
Although thoroughly put out by the fact that he had no one to chase around, Tony was intrigued by this man, and soon he found that he didn't mind having no one to flirt with, as Victor was far more capable than anyone who'd ever filled the position before.  
Victor, whilst learning on the job, became the foreign correspondent for Stark industries, in other words, making him the third most powerful person at the company (Miss Potts being the second, and Mr Stark, of course being the first).  
Stark industries was known for three main things. The first was its work in clean energy, the second was the ego of Mr Stark, and the third was when the two collided, in other words, the Stark's annual gala,  
It was Victor's first gala in his high position that he met Wanda Maximoff...

Wanda stared deep into her clutch bag, hoping that by looking busy she wouldn't be approached by anyone.  
She went to the Stark gala every year under her father's instructions- it was their way of suggesting that the feud between the families was nothing serious, however her father refused to go himself.  
Being a regular guest at the function Wanda knew effectively everyone there except... Except for the young man who stood at the centre of a small crowd, talking with a large, but nervous smile.  
Wanda had never seen him before, he was someone of great interest by the looks of it, but all she could think was how incredibly handsome he looked, dressed in his smart, dark suit, with his blonde hair shining dimly in the soft lighting, and his smile causing creases at his eyes that made him look oh so alluring.  
Wanda watched the man with great interest, her eyes transfixed on his smile.  
After a few minutes their eyes suddenly locked, the man's smile dropped into a look of awe as he stared through the people around him, they both blushed softly at the eye contact but didn't cut it off. The blonde apparently then excused himself from the conversation he'd been having and he started towards Wanda, his expression all the more nervous now.  
"Miss Maximoff" he said offering her his hand,  
"Yes" she all but whispered, taking his large dry hand and shaking it,  
His palm was warm and comforting,  
"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met" the woman then said, her cheeks flaring a little warmer,  
"My name's Victor, Victor Shade" he replied,  
Wanda's eyes widened as their hands parted, "You're Tony's new third in command?"  
She'd heard of this man, she knew that he was polite, charming and British, but no one had told her that he was so stunning.  
Victor laughed softly, "Yes, Mr Stark gave me the position a few months ago", he then licked his bottom lip, "Could I maybe get you a drink? A glass of wine?",  
"How about champagne?" Wanda suggested, "To celebrate your new position" she smiles.

Wanda giggled and looked up from her bubbling golden drink, locking eyes with Victor for the hundredth time that evening,  
"I knew you'd have to have a sense of humour to work for Tony Stark, but you really are funny" she smiled,  
"Thank you" he replied, his cheeks burning bright red.  
The two had been talking for hours, and were now stood on the main balcony of Stark manor, looking out over the dark garden below, their champagne flutes standing on the balcony wall.  
Wanda brushed some hair behind her ear and looked to her drink again, finding that she couldn't stare into Victor's eyes for too long, as the look in them made her heart race,  
"You look beautiful tonight Miss Maximoff" he then spoke,  
She looked up once more to find that he was looking at her with a cocktail of nerves and seriousness,  
"Thank you Mr Shade" she replied with a small smile,  
"Victor's fine" he assured her,  
"Then you must call me Wanda"  
"Okay, Wanda"  
The way Victor said her name made goose bumps prickle across her skin.  
"Are you cold?" the man then asked her, his hands going to his lapels as he prepared to take off his blazer and give it to her,  
Wanda put her hand to her arm and laughed softly, "No, I'm fine" she shook her head,  
"Good" Victor nodded, straightening his collar instead.  
"Wanda, I-" the blonde began,  
"Yes?" She answered quickly,  
He looked at her closely for a moment, but shook his head, "Never mind",  
Wanda but her lip, wondering if she'd somehow spoilt the moment, she considered asking him what he was going to say, but her phone then buzzed in her bag. The brunette opened the clutch and brought out the sleek black mobile, there was a message from her driver telling her that he was waiting outside; time had really gotten away from her.  
"I have to go" she frowned to Victor,  
He nodded solemnly but said nothing,  
Wanda turned and began towards the door.  
She rested her hand on the handle and then looked behind her, Victor had his back to her, his eyes now trained in the moon.  
The woman propped her bag up on the handle of the door and she turned back,  
"Victor" she said, making him turn to face her,  
Wanda reached up to his cheek and took it into her hand, pulling him into a soft kiss, their lips lingering against one another's.  
"I wanted to ask you to dinner" Victor said once they pulled away, his eyes were still closed and he almost looked pained; his hands were also still resting on her hips, his eyes then opened, "But I'm going to Italy tomorrow" he frowned,  
"For how long?" Wanda asked,  
"Three weeks" he answered.  
The woman held his face again and she smiled sweetly, "We'll see each other again", her words sounded like a promise,  
Victor couldn't help but smile, "I look forward to it",  
"Me too" she laughed, she then kissed him gently on the cheek and they parted...

"... Mr Stark wants you to call into the office at 5:30, and then you've got a dinner meeting at 7pm" Victor's secretary said handing him his schedule for the day,  
"I do?" He said quizzically, taking the lists from her,  
"Yes, and you can't be late" she instructed him.  
The blonde looked over the scribbled list of times, locations and events- he did indeed have an appointment to meet someone for dinner at 7 o'clock that evening, but he didn't even know who with. Not that he cared, after two weeks in Italy working non-stop, he found it best to just go with anything written on the schedule and to ask very few questions...

Victor arrived at the restaurant at 7:05, the phone call with Mr Stark having turned into a video conference with half of the members of the board. He was sure that he probably looked a little less sharp than usual, but he was far too tired to care.  
He approached the concierge and gave him his name, a waitress was then called over to direct him to his table, and his waiting dinner partner.  
Victor stopped at the table, and the waitress pulled out the chair for him, he sat, all the time his eyes focused on the back of the menu that was being held upright by his dining associate, shielding then from his view, he then took a menu for himself and opened his mouth to announce his presence,  
"I'm-"  
"Late" she cut in.  
The menu came down to lie flat on the table and Wanda smirked at him from the chair opposite,  
"Wanda?" Victor asked, half convinced that the sleep deprivation was making him as things,  
"Hello darling" she said softly, resting her chin in her tabled hands,  
A huge grin cracked the blondes' face, "You came to Italy just to have dinner with me?",  
"I also called your secretary last week to get into your schedule" she added, "Now, get comfortable, you're off for the night",  
Victor smiled good thanks to Wanda, he had no idea that this woman was as wonderful as to do all of this for him...

"...after dinner we strolled around in the dark, talking about every little thing that had happened since we'd last seen each other" Wanda said with a fond, distant smile,

"It sounds incredible" Kate said softly, having gotten entirely engrossed in the love story she'd been told,

"It was... is" she laughed gently, "I love Victor with all my heart",

"Do you ever go with him when he goes traveling for work now?" the journalist asked.

"No, that was the first time, and the time after that was the last" Wanda replied,

"What happened?" she said, a deep frown covering her face,

"He proposed" the brunette laughed, "Out of nowhere he asked me to come to Paris with him, and then he proposed to me",

That was not what Kate had meant, but she was becoming very fond of the twinkle in Wanda's eyes when she talked about her husband, so she didn't mind greatly.

"It sounds cliché, but he didn't do it in front of the Eifel tower, or in a fancy restaurant" Wanda laughed, "He did it while I was half asleep in bed wondering if what I was hearing was real. You see, he'd been out at work all afternoon, and then all evening, I went to bed without him and he got in at gone midnight. He woke me up, and I can tell you, he looked a real mess, his shirt crumpled, his tie hanging crooked" she shook her head at the memory, "He was kneeling by the side of the bed and he just said, 'Wanda, I love you, marry me', and at first I could only look at him, until I finally found my voice and said 'yes'. I don't know how many times I said it, but I said 'yes'".

If Kate had been a weaker woman, she was sure she would have cried.

"Wow" she said, letting out a deep, "Wanda Maximoff and Victor Shade, true romantics, who knew?",

Wanda laughed, "Of course you mustn't tell anyone" she teased,

"Wouldn't think of it" the ravenette nodded as she began to pack away her stuff,

The woman opposite her spoke again however, "I wonder Kate, whether you wouldn't mind staying for a moment, so we can talk",

Kate paused and put her bag on the floor again, "Err, sure" she nodded.

The brunette smiled, "Tell me about Teddy",

The girl blinked, "Teddy?",

"Yes, we've known him for a few months and he seems lovely, but you've known him for years, you must know him better than anyone" Wanda beamed,

"Well..." Kate started, "He's great, my best friend I guess... But I don't see why you-"

She was quickly cut off, "I'd just like to know what type of boy my son is spending time with is all",

"Oh... Well like I said, Teddy's great, he's funny, kind, a bit of a dope, but in a sort of lovable way. I don't know what else I can say" she shrugged.

"You've said plenty" the woman nodded, she then stood and left the room without another word,

Kate blinked once more, that had been a peculiar end to her interview…


	3. Pietro Maximoff

Kate couldn't help but stare at the man sat opposite her, it was truly uncanny,

"Is there something on my face?" Pietro asked, his expression sceptical as he leant back in his chair, folding his arms and legs,

"Oh, no, sorry" she said blinking and shaking her head, "It's just… you and Tommy are really very alike",

"I'm aware" he said gruffly, probably having heard the comment a thousand times over,

The ravenette blushed and pulled her attention instead to her writing equipment, "You don't mind if I record you do you?",

"I don't suppose that I have a choice, so it's fine" he replied.

Kate nodded awkwardly, unsure of what she could say in response and she turned on the Dictaphone, putting it on the table and then opening her notebook,

She looked up at the man waiting opposite her, "What's it like living with your sister again?",

Pietro shrugged, "Oddly enough, it's not too different to how it was when we were kids, except now of course, I can't mess with her like I used to, then again, Tommy seems to do a good enough job of that", his tone was entirely disinterested, despite his answer being somewhat satirical.

"Living here again you must spend a lot of time with your family, you seem to get along with them quite well" she paused and took a deep breath, "-but I'm more interested in your relationship with someone who isn't here" the girl stopped talking and watched his expression,

He sighed silently and rolled his eyes, thinking that he could easily predict her question,

"As her older brother you must naturally feel protective of Wanda, so what do you think of her husband Victor?" she concluded,

Pietro was somewhat surprised, he had _not_ been expecting that, "Victor's a decent guy" he answered with a shrug, "A working stiff sometimes, but a good guy. My sister seems to like him and she's generally a good judge of character",

Kate nodded and took a quick note.

"I was sure you were about to ask me about my daughter" the man commented,

She smiled sadly, "And how is your relationship with your daughter?",

He frowned at her, "I see her twice a month. She has a... coloured impression of me thanks to her mother, but she seems to like it when I go out and spoil her rotten" he replied, he expression steely.

The journalist now felt slightly guilty for having asked, but she only had one question left written in her notebook, and it wasn't any better, "What's your relationship with your father like?",

This question, as expected, was clearly a sourer topic than asking him about his daughter,

Pietro paused, his face flashing into anger as he shifted in his seat and licked his bottom lip, "It's no secret that we've never seen eye to eye on most things. Living with him makes it, a _little_ harder obviously, but I'm an adult and he is my father… so we cope" he then forced an uncomfortable smile, "Does that answer your question?",

"Yes" Kate said, quickly turning off her recorder, "Sorry" she added bringing the device to her lap and covering it with her hands,

"It's fine" he shook his head, sitting back once again and closing his eyes as he rubbed his temples.

Of all of the Maximoff's, Pietro had possibly had the most difficult time.

It started as a teenager, with the constant arguments he'd have with his father- they were a weekly event in fact, but unlike the usual disagreements between a father and a son, the general public knew about these.

Pietro would leave the house after the bust ups, driving his motorbike into the city where he'd find a club or bar to spend his evening in.

The following day his outing would be in the papers for one of three reasons:

One, Pietro would end up flashing a large amount of money wherever he went, attracting the attention of many people, especially women who he would then end up stumbling out of a hotel with the next day, the room they'd shared entirely trashed and covered with women's underwear.

Two, Pietro would end up flashing a large amount of money wherever he went, attracting the attention of many people, especially women, some of which had boyfriends who didn't take kindly to a skinny, blonde haired rich boy trying to flirt with their girlfriends. Pietro would then either be in the paper the next day for leaving the police station, or the hospital.

Of course, both of these scenarios would only play out if he made it into the city in the first place, as the third reason he'd end up in the news was again concerning him being in the hospital.

The drive between the Maximoff mansion and the city was a long one, most of which being along a single lane road, if that wasn't bad enough, Pietro also had a tendency to drive way over the speed limit- this led to him being rushed to the hospital on more than one occasion.

Pietro eventually moved out of the mansion, finally finding freedom from his father, but the troubles didn't end there, the blonde was still a rich, brooding 'bad boy' after all.

For a long time, the press' main concern was reporting on the man's many, many relationships, never saying outright, but heavily suggesting that he was a 'man-slut'.

After that, once Pietro finally settled down, it seemed that things may have been getting better, that was until his disastrous divorce that saw him living with his father and sister once again, now a fully grown adult man with a young daughter that he barely saw.

Other than that, the press also liked to heavily suggest that the man had anger problems and possibly even a history of drug abuse,

But after a past like his, who could blame him? Kate often thought.

"You've known that Teddy kid for a long time haven't you?" Pietro suddenly asked as he watched Kate packing away her things, having finally calmed down from the interview after taking a good few sips from his well concealed hip flask,

"Err, yeah" she said looking up at him,

"So you'd say that you know a lot about him right?" he added,

"Yeah, quite a bit" she nodded,

"He hasn't, oh I don't know… ever been arrested or committed a crime by any chance has he?" the man said, shrugging casually as he took out his flask once more.

Kate frowned, "No…?" she responded, a little thrown off by the question,

"Good" he said with a single nod, he then tipped whatever was left of his drink into his mouth and he capped the flask, putting it back into his pocket, and then leaving the room quickly,

Kate may have been mistaken, but she thought she was starting to see a pattern developing in these interviews.


	4. Tommy Maximoff

Tommy smirked as he watched Kate attempting to focus on the notepad in her lap.

He could tell that she was just stalling for time, as even from his own seat he could see that there was very little written on the paper and she'd been pretending to read it for the last fifteen minutes,

"Are you nervous?" he asked her,

She looked up quickly and her cheeks stained red, "No" she insisted, "Are you?",

He laughed, "Of course not, I do this sort of thing all the time, although I am starting to doubt that you do",

Kate frowned at him and swiftly placed the voice recorder on the table between them, the little red light on the side of it glowing, "Shall we start?" she grumbled,

"Sure" he scoffed in response.

"Last week you were photographed spending the evening with the Russian ballet star-"

"Karina" Tommy said cutting in, a fond smile on his face, "She was really something" he mused,

"Does that mean you're in a relationship?" the journalist asked, sucking her teeth impatiently,

"I might be" he shrugged, "It depends how this interview goes",

Kate chose to ignore the suggestive look he was giving her, even if it was incredibly difficult to do so, "What does a teenager such as yourself do in your free time?" she asked, looking to her notepad once more.

"What do _I_ do in my free time? I ride my motorbike, I get the jet ski out when it's sunny, sometimes I go down to the race track and do a couple of laps, I swim, I go to the gym, oh, and I party, like all the time" he replied, laughing as he spoke,

The ravenette looked at him, a small smile now across her face, "Funny you should mention that, I was just about to ask" she began, "How do you respond to being called the 'Maximoff party boy'? From what I understand, it's become your official title in most of the tabloids",

Tommy scoffed again, "I'd say it's a rather fair assessment" he admitted, "But what's wrong with that? I like to have fun, so what?",

"Don't you ever worry that you're following in your uncle's footsteps? If your motorbike accident six months ago is anything to go by, I'd say you're fairly close to it" Kate answered.

It was true, Tommy was very like his uncle in more than just looks, recently he'd been proving that to the press.

Partying with celebrities, getting into fights at clubs, even crashing his motorbike on more than one occasion (the last accident had been particularly bad, him having been stuck in hospital afterwards for four months with a broken wrist).

The teen was now frowning, "My uncle is a great man" he said firmly, "I don't 'worry' that I'm going to be like him, I know I'm going to be like him",

"So what you're saying is, you're going to be a 'great man'?" Kate asked,

A smirk broke his steely resolve, "A fantastic one",

"Even when you're serious you're joking" the girl said shaking her head,

"What can I say? I'm a funny guy" Tommy shrugged,

"Truly" she said plainly, "Have you any other hidden talents?",

"Oh Kate, my dear, you're going to have to wait and see aren't you?" he laughed.

Kate glared at him, she was starting to get a little sick of his constant flirting, in fact, she thought to tell him as much,

"All you do is flirt with people don't you?",

"Only if they're very very pretty and worthy of my time" he responded,

Well that shut her up,

"And you-"

Oh, he wasn't finished,

"You are exceeding pretty Kate, far prettier than a lot of girls I've been giving my time recently, in fact" he continued, "I think I need to start upping my standards, as you really exceed them. You are worthy of every last minute of my time" he said, charm oozing from his words,

Kate knew that her cheeks were glowing bright red, and as much as she wished they weren't, she really couldn't help it. She looked down to her notebook, letting her hair cover her face, hoping that it would stop him from noticing her current state,

"Don't ignore me Kate, and don't pretend you don't love all the attention",

She shot him a hard stare once more,

"How long has it been? Six months?" Tommy asked curiously,

"How long has it been since what?" she replied,

"You know, since you last did the crotch tango" he shrugged,

Kate groaned, "You're disgusting",

"Longer!? No way! You're hot, how have you not had sex in the last six months?" the blonde laughed.

"I never said I hadn't-"

"So you have?" he interrupted,

"It's none of your business" Kate all but growled,

"I think I'd like to make it my business"

She was made speechless by him once again.

Tommy burst with laughter after a moment of silence, "All of that was recorded wasn't it!?",

Her eyes flashed to the small device on the table to find that it was indeed still recording,

"Shit" she hissed putting her head in her hands,

"Watch what you say Kate, you're being recorded" he teased,

"You are too" she bit, "You've said plenty that's inappropriate",

"But the difference between me and you is that I don't care what people think of me, every last thing I've said, I stand by" Tommy insisted.

Kate scowled at him, how had he managed to do that so many times?! Left her with nothing to say, not even a comeback,

"So who was it?" he then asked, "Was it Teddy?",

"Was what Teddy?" Kate frowned,

"Was Teddy your last screw? He wasn't was he? You're not screwing right?" he questioned relentlessly,

"No! Me and Teddy are not 'screwing'!" the journalist screamed,

"Should have guessed as much" he nodded as if he hadn't even noticed her aggravation, "He's gay isn't he?" Tommy concluded.

"Yeah. So?" she responded,

"Oh nothing, I was just wondering" he shook his head, he then stood, "I think we'll call that a wrap, what do you think?",

Kate only glared at him,

"I'll take that as a yes" he shrugged pocketing his hands, he then strolled from the room, casual as he had been when he first entered.

The ravenette was seething; she decided that she really didn't like Tommy,

She was also starting to get the feeling that over the course of the interviews she'd had more information taken out of her than she'd gotten out of the Maximoffs.


	5. Billy Maximoff

"You look nervous" Kate smirked as she watched Billy fidgeting across from her,

He stopped bouncing his legs and a dark blush covered his cheeks, "I do?" he asked,

She laughed and gave him a little nod,

"Sorry I just-" he shrugged, "I've never done anything like this, an interview I mean",

"It's fine" the ravenette assured him as she took out her notebook and pen.

"Don't you get nervous doing this sort of thing? I mean you have to be confident and ask people all these questions, with no telling as to how they'll react" Billy questioned, running a hand through his hair as if suddenly suffering with second hand anxiety at the very thought of having to do her job,

"Sometimes" Kate shrugged, "But to be honest, of all the interviews, I've been looking forward to this one the most, and worrying about it the least",

"Really?" the boy asked, smiling softly,

"Of course, you're a friend of Teddy's, you've got to be easy to talk to" she then shrugged, "He's got a good taste in friends".

Kate then turned on her Dictaphone and placed it in the centre of the table, "Can we start?" she asked with a smile,

"Sure" Billy nodded, his bright smile turning down into a straight line- it was nice to know that he was taking this seriously.

"Tell me about your family"

"Well, me and Tommy are twins so… I guess we naturally have a kind of bond? I mean we fight and fall out because we're pretty different people, but we have a deeper understanding, and we make up pretty quickly" Billy then shrugged, "I don't see a lot of my dad, but when he's here, he really likes to listen. He listens for hours on end about anything I have to say and he gives great advice. Of course, mom also has a completely different disposition when he's home"

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, her eyebrow arching,

The boy laughed, "She's always happy when dad's home, no matter what, otherwise she's- well she's just mom, she keeps me and Tommy in line, she tries to do the same with uncle Pietro, she wanders around the house just, sitting and reading and… remembering. I think she kind of likes it though, the quiet",

"Does she have the same twin-ly bond as you and Tommy do?" Kate said with a smirk, recalling that twins did of course run in the family.

"Not quite the same" Billy replied, "But that's probably because they're adults. They argue a lot more, but they do it sort of silently I guess, it's like there's a cold war going on across the dinner table sometimes" he then added with a laugh,

"What do they argue so much about?"  
"Granddad sometimes, but Tommy mostly, Pietro thinks mom should let him do what he wants, but she thinks he still needs rules and boundaries… I dunno, it's probably the right call" Billy shrugged.

"Speaking of Tommy, what do you think of your brother's indiscretions?" Kate then asked, doodling a little padlock next to Tommy's name on her notebook,

"Tommy... likes to mess around. He's a great guy, he just doesn't take a whole lot seriously" the teen replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke, he was clearly getting a little uncomfortable with the theme of the questions.

"How about we move onto the fun questions?" the ravenette asked suddenly, pulling her legs up onto her chair so she could sit on them, a bright smile now across her face,

"The 'fun' questions?" Billy laughed softly, "What are they?",

"Like, how would you describe yourself?" she said, sounding more like a gossipy teenager than a professional writer for a newspaper.

"I suppose I'm kind of nerdy, I'm into comic books, video games, superheroes, the works" he laughed,

"Ah, so who's your favourite superhero?",

"Captain America!" he beamed, "We and Teddy even went as Captain America and Iron Man for Halloween last year",

"So you're the reason Teddy blew me off for my Halloween party last year then?" Kate's eyebrow raised again and she folded her arms over her chest,

"Sorry" Billy blushed,

"It's fine, it's just nice to know that he's got other friends to be honest…" she trailed off, "So how did you, William Maximoff, rich, attractive, intelligent and powerful meet Theodore Altman? Struggling student, ex-semi-professional athlete, dopey and incapable of telling the staff at Subway that they've made his sandwich wrong" Kate asked,

Billy laughed again, "That's a little cruel don't you think?",

She shrugged, "I've known him a long time",

The teen the nodded, "How did I meet him?" he crossed his legs and then shrugged, "We both read comic books",

"Ah yes, I almost forgot that Teddy's a massive dweeb" she smirked,

"Must mean I am too" he countered,

"Sorry" Kate laughed nervously, "No offence"

"Non taken" he assured her.

0o0o0

Billy was getting sick of being followed around by a bodyguard everywhere he went. He was sixteen years old for god's sake!

He sighed and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets- at least the guy kept his distance.

There was only one place Billy had to go today, it was the same place as always.

With a steadying breath, he paused on the sidewalk, waiting for his bodyguard- a tall muscular man in a dark suit. Kristov stopped in front of the teen and gave him a quizzical look,

"Can you just wait outside today?" the ravenette asked awkwardly,

"It's my job to protect you" he replied,

"It's not like I'm in danger in the comic book store"

Kristov looked through one of the windows of the shop.

The place looked unassuming enough. There were a few people inside, two behind the counter and a few others looking at the brightly coloured stock,

"I suppose it looks safe enough" the musclebound man nodded eventually,

Billy's face brightened, "So I can go in alone?"

Kristov stooped a little and lowered his tone, "On two condition. One, you spend no longer than twenty minutes in there and two, you spend every moment within my line of sight",

"Deal!" the teen replied quickly, offering his hand to be shaken,

The bodyguard accepted the handshake, making sure not to squeeze as hard as he usually would,

"Thanks Kristov!" Billy them beamed as he hopped over to the door and pushed it open.

The comic book store felt overly warm as always when he entered, Billy being probably the most overdressed person in there, wearing a shirt and a cardigan,

He ignored the barmy heat settling around him however and stepped over to the new release shelf immediately. Barely pausing to think, the teens hands were filled within minutes, the large stack of comic books probably equating in value to a small gourmet dinner.

After another few minutes of blank staring, Billy pulled his phone from his pocket with his spare hand, and he quickly got up a long list of comic titles and issue numbers, checking to see if he'd forgotten anything. There was only one comic he'd forgotten, and it was one he was in desperate need of.

The fourth issue of 'Hercules' was waiting alone on the central shelf, but as Billy went to grab for it, another hand brushed his, apparently heading for the same destination.

The ravenette quickly withdrew his own hand, and a dark blush covered his cheeks as he turned to see who else was trying to collect the comic.

The boy was his age, taller and more toned, his hair was blonde, close cropped on the sides and back, but thick and tussled on the top. In Billy's opinion, he looked far too cool to be buying comics, as he wore cargo shorts and a basketball vest, his ears were also pierced with several hoops and he was roguishly good looking- he would go as far to say that the teen could be a jock.

"Take it" the boy quickly said with a bright smile as he scratched the back of his head with the hand he's been trying to pick up the comic with,

"Oh no, really I insist, you have it" Billy replied, still blushing a vibrant shade of pink,

"I can order another copy for next week, it's fine" the blonde laughed,

"Then I can easily do the same, now really, please take the comic" the other said, and with that he picked up the comic and handed it to him,

"Okay, if you're sure" the larger nodded taking it, "But let me pay the shipping fee for your copy",

"You really don't need to" Billy smirked, holding up the large pile of comics already in his hands,

"Wow" the blonde said, his eyebrow raising, "Maybe you could pay for my comics too then" he smiled, "That was a joke. I'm Teddy" he then added, offering his hand,

"Billy" he answered shaking the appendage, chuckling as he did so.

"Sorry if it's a little sweaty, I've just come from practise" Teddy then blushed once they had parted hands, and he wiped his palm on his vest,

"Practise?" the ravenette asked as the two of them began towards the counter, both ready to pay,

"Yeah, basketball" he replied,

"It explains the vest" Billy nodded as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

"That's 81.80" the cashier said once he had finally finished scanning all of the Maximoff's comics,

"Here" the teen said handing over the exact change,

"I don't think I've ever seen someone spend so much on comics at once" Teddy laughed,

"I'm a week behind" the other blushed again, as he took the large plastic bag from the cashier, "Thank you".

Billy then watched as Teddy set down his own comics to be scanned,

The blonde seemed to be buying most of the same things that he had, there were of course less in the pile and far fewer comics from smaller publishers, but at least their tastes in marvel comics seemed identical,

"How long have you been reading 'Hercules'?" Teddy asked as he took out his own wallet,

"A _really_ long time" the ravenette laughed,

"Same" he nodded, "He's even one half of one of my many OTP's" he added with a snigger as he handed his money to the cashier,

Billy's lips parted a little, "Same for me" he said quietly.

After another minute the two teens both had bags of comics in their hands and they were heading towards the exit,

"Here" Teddy said holding open the door for the other teen,

"Thanks" Billy smiled, he eyes only on the blonde, half in hopes that Kristov might not notice him,

"You're welcome" he nodded as the door closed behind them. The boys hand then rested on the back of his head again, and his smile fell a little, "Listen, you seem to have really good taste in comics… maybe we could hang out some time and talk about them?",

"I… sure" the ravenette smiled softly, "How about we meet here next week?",

"Sounds good" and the smile was back across his face.

"Great, I can't-"

"Mr Maximoff?" Kristov asked, suddenly cut in,

Billy turned slowly to see that his bodyguard was waiting for him, his arms folded and his face stern,

"Yeah, I'm coming" he frowned, "Sorry" he then added looking at Teddy's quizzical face,

"It's fine, I'll see you around" he nodded, a reassuring smile on his face…

0o0o0

"-I was a little nervous about meeting him the week after. It's kind of hard to make friends when everyone in the city knows your name, but Teddy… he didn't seem to care, he treated me like a normal person" Billy finished, now wearing a distant smile as the memory faded,

"Teddy has this way of being friends with everyone, I'm glad you met him" Kate beamed,

"Yeah me too" the ravenette nodded.


	6. A morning off

Kate had never been more excited about her work- she was gathering so much information about the Maximoff's, compiling enough for what looked like what could be a double page spread on them.

As far as she was concerned, the Maximoff's, despite all their idiosyncrasies, were generally good, albeit complicated people, and she hoped dearly that she could reflect that in her writing, they deserved it.

If she did a good job on this report not only would Kate be getting her own name out there, but she'd be improving the opinion of the Maximoff's held by the entire public- at least, that was the theory.

Kate couldn't think of a single thing that had gone wrong since she'd started her research.

-That was until her phone buzzed one morning at seven thirty, as she lay like a large starfish across her mattress.

With a very unattractive groan, she stretched her hand towards her bedside table and soon she found her phone which was still lit up like a Christmas tree and practically dancing across the table top,

Kate checked the ID only to find that it was unknown, and with a quick sigh she answered the call, hoping that she sounded at least a little awake, especially if it was her boss calling.

"Hello?" she asked,

"You sound tired. Are you still in bed?" laughed a familiar voice in return,

It was hard to make out who it was- as well as the voice coming through the speaker, there was a loud, dull tone filtering into her ear too, like the sound of cars passing on the highway,

"I'm sorry" Kate said sitting up a little, pulling a hand through her insanely tangled hair, "Who is this?"

"Don't recognise my voice Katie?" came another laugh.

"Oh for God's sake- Tommy, is that you?" she growled, her patient disappearing immediately with the realization,

"The one and only" he replied,

"Who gave you my number?" the ravenette demanded, probably sounding half as threatening as she wanted to as she was still addled by sleep.

"Teddy gave me it" Tommy answered,

"No he didn't" Kate said plainly, knowing that he was definitely lying,

"Okay, he gave your number to my brother and then Billy gave it to me" the teen answered again,

"Wrong again, no he didn't" she repeated,

"Fine!" Tommy huffed, "Teddy gave your number to Billy and then I stole it off his phone"

"Great" Kate grumbled, "Listen, it's early, what do you want?" she said stifling a yawn.

"It's hardly early; the sun's been up for two and a half hours Kate! It's summer!" he laughed at her,

"Yeah like you've been up for two and a half hours" the ravenette said rolling her eyes,

"I have actually" Tommy answered, "I've been filling the pool",

"What?" she asked, tiredness still swimming through her brain as she tried to listen to him whilst also poking at a crust of sleep in the corner of her eye, "Listen, I think we have a bad connection, I can hardly hear you"- she could've sworn he'd said something about a pool,

"Yeah sorry about that" the blonde said quickly, "I'm driving".

"Wait- you're driving?" Kate asked, "And talking to me on the phone at the same time? That sounds like the perfect combination for another monumental Tommy Maximoff crash, I better go and get my notebook to document the exact moment of impact",

"Oh please, it's not like I'm on my phone" Tommy brushed off the comment, "I'm on my motorbike so I've got my Bluetooth in",

"Oh even better" the ravenette replied sarcastically, "Anyway, what was it you wanted again?"

"I'm on my way to pick you up" he answered,

"What?! No, no you're not, please tell me you're not" Kate stuttered, trying to crawl out of bed as her legs got tangled in the duvet and she nearly fell face first onto the floor.

"Yeah, I'm about ten minutes away, so be ready! Oh and remember to bring a bikini, I'm not having any of that one-piece crap" and with that Tommy hung up.

So he had mentioned a pool.

Tommy did indeed arrive ten minutes later, and he stood in Kate's living room laughing at her as she tried to get dressed in the bedroom. After several comments made about how he could help her get dressed, and even more about how he could help her to get undressed, Kate and Tommy made their way downstairs into the parking lot below the building,

"She's a beauty isn't she?" Tommy beamed once they got to his bright green motorbike,

Kate didn't answer,

"Here" the blonde said tossing her a helmet,

Kate barely caught it and she was left half winded as it hit her in the stomach, "I'm not particularly comfortable getting on that death trap" she told him with a frown.

"Oh come on Kate, this bike is perfectly safe" Tommy told her, he then stepped a little closer and lowered his tone, "Plus if you start to feel like you're in danger, you can just hold onto me a little tighter" he winked,

"Eww" was the ravenette's reply as she pulled on the helmet.

It took the two of them half an hour to get to the Maximoff mansion- Tommy having taken a 'shortcut' down a dirt track through a wood and then a field that nearly saw them crashing several times.

Kate half wished that they would've crashed because at least it would teach Tommy to bring two helmets when he picked people up on his bike- or it would've killed him, either way, she figured she'd be better off.

"I'm never getting on this thing again" Kate said as she dismounted the bike and took off the helmet,

"Don't be put off motorbikes Kate, they're great" Tommy replied,

"Oh don't worry, I won't be" she answered throwing the helmet back to him, "I'll just be put off motorbikes that you're driving" she added,

"Rude" the blonde said simply as he placed the helmet between his legs.

Kate then turned and started across the gravel towards the mansion, hoping to talk to anyone who wasn't Tommy,

"Hey Kate" the fair haired boy in question then said, getting her attention again,

She turned once more and looked at the vulgar scene he was putting on for her.

He had turned the helmet around so that mouth vent was pressed to his crotch, and he was grinding against it as he revved the bikes engine and wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively,

"You're disgusting and you have problems" Kate said giving him the finger before turning to enter the house again,

"RUDE!" Tommy shouted again as she walked away.

0o0o0

Kate worked her way straight through the house and left through the back doors, finding a pool mostly filled with shimmering blue water and Billy and Teddy sat by it talking,

"Hey" she smiled approaching them,

"Hi" Billy nodded,

"Hey Kate, did you get here okay?" Teddy asked standing and going to give her a half hug,

"Yeah, I guess" she answered as they parted,

The blonde then grimaced, "We did try to send a cab for you" he assured her,

"But there really is no stopping Tommy once he's got an idea in his head" Billy shrugged.

"It's fine, I'm here in one piece, and we only nearly crashed three or four times" Kate said,

Both boys winced, still feeling guilty about it,

"So, we're swimming today?" she asked taking a step forward to stand right by the pool, looking into the water with her hands on her hips,

"Yeah, we figured that you'd been working pretty hard, so we could spend the day hanging out in the sun to give you a break" Teddy answered as he took off his shirt, revealing his already tanned chest,

"You can get changed in the downstairs bathroom if you need to Kate" Billy then added as he began to unbutton his t-shirt.

"I'm okay here" she answered, having put her bikini on underneath her clothes, she then put her hands to the bottom hem of her shirt and started to pull it off over her head,

As her view became obscured by the grey fabric she heard a wolf whistle and she sighed,

"I regret this" she then said pulling her shirt off entirely, now seeing Tommy stood across the pool from her, his eyes as wide as his smile,

"I don't" Tommy winked,

"Again, eww" the ravenette frowned as she threw her shirt on the floor.

0o0o0

Despite Tommy, and his constant attempts to seduce her, Kate was having a good time; she would never have imagined that she would be spending time in the Maximoff's pool.

After a few hours of lounging around and generally doing very little, Wanda appeared on the step of the French doors leading back into the house,

"Having fun?" she asked as she stepped out into the sun, a huge floppy summer hat shading her pale skin from the light,

There was an all over tone of agreement from the four teens,

"Good" she laughed, "Kate, I wonder if I might have a word" she then added,

"Oh, sure" the ravenette nodded and she slipped from the inflatable armchair she was sitting in, into the water and then waded over to the edge of the pool.

Wanda crouched to talk to her, her long thin skirt falling over her sandaled feet "My father is ready for you to interview him",

"Now?" Kate asked, her eyes widening, and her happy expression disappearing,

"That's what he said" the brunette laughed, "Here" she said offering a hand to help her out of the pool,

"Thank you" she nodded, taking the hand and getting out of the water, using her other hand on the pool's side to take most of her weight rather than letting Mrs Maximoff hoist her out like a child.

"What? Where are you off to Kate?" Tommy complained as she wrapped a towel around her shoulders,

"She's going to talk to your grandfather" Wanda told him,

"But we were going to set up some targets in the field and go shooting!" he complained,

"Later" his mother shook her head.

Wanda and Kate then walked into the house together, ignoring the further complaints from Tommy,

Kate was still dressed in her swimming gear with her clothes bundled up in her arms along with her messenger bag, but she was starting to feel exposed for a different reason,

"Bows or rifles?" Wanda asked after a few moments,

"Oh, we were going to do some archery" the ravenette replied, "It's a hobby" she shrugged,

"Tommy got a bow and arrow for his twelfth birthday" the woman began, "We had a huge party for the boys and they got way more presents than they'd ever know what to do with. My friend Clint thought a bow and arrow would be a suitable present for Tommy" she smirked,

"Clint Barton?" Kate asked,

"Yes" Wanda nodded,

"I've met him before" the teen told her as she paused by the door to the downstairs bathroom, "Quite a few times. He practises his archery in the same building I get my lessons in",

"Of course, I almost forgot" the brunette laughed, "The Bishop's have their own fair shares of the city's wealth don't they?"

Kate blushed, "I suppose" she nodded,

"I've met your father, he's a very serious man, but he's mentioned you before. He seems proud of you",

"He is, I think" the ravenette replied,

"I'm certain he is" Wanda nodded, "Now get changed, _my_ father isn't the most patient man".

0o0o0

Kate stared up at the stairs leading to the next floor of the house; she was biting nervously at her nails and anxiously tapping the fingers of her other hand on her bag that was slung over her shoulder,

"Are you okay?" Teddy asked from behind her,

At first the ravenette hardly reacted to him, her mind on other things, "Have you ever talked to him?" she asked, avoiding his question,

"Yeah, a few times actually" he nodded, now going to lean on one of the banisters, still dressed in nothing but his swimming trunks (and a towel draped over his shoulders)- Kate couldn't believe that he could feel so comfortable standing around in a mansion like this while wearing so little,

"He won't bite" he smirked, folding his arms over his chest,

"It's not him biting me I'm afraid of" Kate frowned.

"Then what are you scared of?" the blonde asked, one eyebrow raised, surprised that she was even suggesting that she might be fearful,

"I don't know!" she sighed, "That he'll shout at me, or ask me to leave, or even that he'll be really sarcastic and mean and I won't pick up on it",

"What makes you think any of that will happen?" Teddy chuckled,

"This is Erik Maximoff Teddy!" she cried in response, "The 'Millionaire Monster Maximoff'" she quoted from an old article she'd read on him, "Triple M Teddy", she then paused and raised her hands to her hair, "I can't believe I'm about to interview Erik Maximoff with wet hair".

"I don't think he'll mind" he smiled at her, "Plus, every time I've spoken to him he's been very polite",

"As is his prerogative as a very rich man from an old family" Kate grimaced, "It's his way Teddy, just like my dad, they're polite because they need to be",

"Come on Kate, I genuinely think you're reading too much into what the press say",

"I am the press Teddy" she answered quickly,

"You know what I mean" the blonde said rolling his eyes, "It'll be fine, come on" he then said taking her by the wrist and pulling her closer to the stairs, "Go" he told her.

Kate pulled her wrist from his grip and straightened her bag strap on her shoulder,

With a deep breath, she then began up the stairs.


	7. Eric Maximoff

It was such an unassuming door, yet Kate had raised her hand, and failed to knock on it for the fourth time in a row now.

She cleared her throat and lifted her fist again, preparing to try once more,

"Just don't embarrass yourself" she whispered to herself, sighing in frustration,

Her knuckles then made contact with the wood of the door, making a gentle tapping noise.

"Come in" came the response almost immediately,

The ravenette straightened the strap of her bag resting on her shoulder once more, and opted to ignore the wet patch that was forming from her dripping hair on the sleeve of her t-shirt. She then put her hand to the dull brass handle and put a gentle downward weight on it, until the door gave and cracked away from the frame. Kate pushed the door open into the room as silently as she was able to, cringing slightly at the faint sound of the door's rough bottom edge scraping across the thick piled carpet, the splinters snagging on loops of polyester and tearing them over and over again.

The room was dark, lit only by faint sunlight coming through opaque curtains, a fireplace set into the wall, and a desk lamp that sat on the end of the dresser.

The head of the lamp was pointed down, shining light onto the man himself, Erik Magnus Maximoff.

The elderly man was sat in the same impressive wing backed chair from the family portrait, and he was wearing almost exactly the same outfit, the summer warmth clearly not getting to him in his private quarters,

His pale blue eyes then raised up from his book and landed on Kate, peering over the lenses of his wire framed glasses,

"Miss Bishop I assume?" he asked softly as he took off his spectacles, folding them and tucking them away in an inside pocket of his smart burgundy jacket,

"Yes sir" she nodded, gripping her bag strap like a life line once more,

"Well come in" he said gesturing to a second, slightly less stately seat that was sitting opposite him.

Kate nodded obediently and quickly closed the door behind her, rushing over to the chair she was offered,

"You don't mind if I record the interview do you?" she asked setting her bag in her lap, avoiding eye contact as much as possible,

"Not at all" Erik responded, crossing his legs.

The ravenette took her notepad, pen and Dictaphone out from her bag and fumbled with the device, trying to find the right button to start recording, and failing to do so over and over, her nerves making her hands shake,

"There" she said softly, finally getting it to work, she then placed it on the low coffee table that sat between them.

Kate finally looked back up at the elderly man,

He was sat staring at her, his impatience clear but unspoken,

She bit her lip and flipped open the notepad, getting to the small list of questions she'd written weeks earlier.

"I did a little bit of research and I noticed that you donate a lot to the Xavier foundation each year. I was wondering, where does your interest in the charity stem from?" Kate began, hoping that she sounded as professional as possible, and that she was starting the interview on a high that might get the man on her side,

Erik licked his dry lips and shifted in his seat slightly, "Well apart from the fact that Charles Xavier, the charity's creator is a… an old acquaintance of mine, I also appreciate the work he does" he then looked sideways, feigning disinterest, "It may surprise you to know, but this successful man you see before you came from humble beginnings. Like the children that Charles supports, I lived in poverty for much of my young life and if there had been a charity such as the Xavier foundation around then- and if I weren't so proud, I would've jumped at the opportunity to receive that kind of help",

"I had no idea" Kate frowned,

"Most people don't" he replied, "Whenever that detail of my life comes up in an interview, it's always failed to make it any further than the journalist's notepad… if that",

At this the young ravenette swallowed and awkwardly looked down to her notes.

Using her pen, she underlined the question she had just asked the eldest Maximoff family member several times, making a big show of doing so,

She then moved onto the next question, grimacing as she read it- what had possessed her into thinking that that was a good question to ask?

"You wouldn't happen to be willing to clarify just why you and the Starks don't get along would you?" Kate winced as the question left her mouth,

Erik seemed to consider this for a moment however, "One of the first arguments I can remember having with Howard Stark was about the prices of my materials. He thought I was being unreasonable in asking the price I had in mind, and I thought he was being pig-headed and stubborn in not agreeing to it" his shoulders then rose a little into a casual shrug, "I'm not sure that's where it started though. But now the Maximoffs and Starks have an organised business agreement of course. Even if Anthony Stark isn't my favourite person in the world, nor my daughter's or my son's. Wanda's marriage to Victor makes it easier of course",

"Speaking of your company-" Kate said swiftly, trying to turn the conversation in a slightly different direction now that that awkward question was out of the way, "-you've being running Maximoff Industries for nearly fifty years now" she began, "What are you going to do when you're too-"

"-once I'm 'too old' to continue?" Erik suggested, cutting her off as she spoke,

Kates gulped again- how had she thought this was a better question?

"Yeah" she added with a blush.

"It's no secret that I haven't exactly got the relationship with Pietro to pass the company on to him- he doesn't want it, and I don't think he's ready to take it. I'm not sure whether he'll ever be ready to take over the company" the senior Maximoff answered,

"So what are you going to do then?" Kate asked,

"I do have a plan Katherine, but I'm afraid I can't tell you" he paused, "Just yet. Certain aspects of the deal still have to be determined" he concluded, looking sideways again.

The journalist was starting to become a little frustrated with this,

Erik Maximoff was proving difficult to get answers from in some respects, but for the questions which were more embarrassing to ask, he was more than happy to make her feel uncomfortable and bad for having asked by holding back nothing.

Kate regarded her notepad once more, "You and your family are rarely seen away from the mansion. Why do you choose to keep such a low profile?",

"This mansion is vast" Erik began, "Each of us could spend all day here doing whatever we wanted without even bumping into one another" his face was a picture of seriousness and the ravenette didn't think for a second that he was joking, or even being sarcastic, "That's not to say that we do that however" he added, "We eat dinner together every evening and spend an hour or two together in the study afterwards", perhaps he had been being sarcastic- this was what Kate had been worried about.

The journalist's mouth was then moving before she even thought about what she was saying, "I'll be honest, that's a little unexpected",

A thick silence fell between them.

That comment had clearly been a mistake,

"Why?" Erik asked, his tone becoming a little sharper, "Is it so hard to believe that I enjoy spending time with my children and my grandchildren?"

Kate was starting to see why everyone thought him a bitter old man. The reports and articles that accused him of being one were turning him into just that,

"Despite his reputation as 'hot-head', Pietro is rather good at chess, regardless of our tendency to argue, we play often. Wanda and I frequently read the same literature, and we discuss what we've read in depth most evenings. Victor, when he's here, is a perfect gentleman who provides me with some of the most intelligent conversation I've ever experienced. Thomas is surprisingly interested in travelling; in fact, he's planning an around the world trip for when he turns eighteen, and being a travelled man myself he constantly questions me to improve his travel plans. And William is one of the kindest, must unique young men I've ever met, getting the opportunity to simply talk to him about his day is a genuine pleasure"

The atmosphere was quiet once more until-

"Who wins?" Kate asked softly,

"I beg your pardon?" Erik asked with an aggravated sigh,

"When you play chess with your son, who wins?" she repeated.

The man seemed taken aback by the question at first, "I do of course" he responded after a long pause, "I taught him how to play when he was very young. I know exactly how he plays, he's all attack and no defence"

Kate smiled softly and nodded, "Thank you for your time" she said as she collected her Dictaphone from the table and turned it off,

"You've made quite the impression on my family" Erik said as Kate packed away her writing materials, "They all hold you in high regard",

"I'm glad" she nodded, giving away only a small smile,

"Your friend Theodore too, he's been a welcome presence in our home- he's a very pleasant young man",

Kate blinked, "He thinks very highly of you too sir",

"I'm glad" Erik nodded.

Kate stepped slowly down the stairs, going over the interview she'd just had over and over again,

Erik Maximoff wasn't a monster, he cared about his family- it seemed unfair that the press had turned him into what they had.

As she neared the bottom step, Kate's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of conspiratorial whispering,

Wanda, Pietro and Tommy were stood in the library around a small table discussing something with serious expressions,

The ravenette watched them through the open door, hoping to pick up on something they were saying, but in a bid to get a little closer, a floorboard beneath her footing creaked, and all three Maximoff's looked up at her suddenly.

Wanda was the first to react and she quickly left the library, closing the door behind her, a large smile now on her face, "Kate" she beamed taking the young woman's hands in her own, "How was the interview?",

"What were the three of you talking about?" the journalist asked, ignoring the question,

"Oh, nothing" the brunette told her, "Just family business",

"Family business that doesn't include Billy?" Kate enquired.

Wanda's smile faltered for a moment,

"Family business _about_ Billy?" she then suggested,

Mrs Maximoff's smile then faded entirely and she let go of Kate's hands, "It might be, what concern is it of yours?" she asked folding her arms,

In that moment, all of the pieces suddenly came together in the girl mind.

"You're trying to get Billy and Teddy together" the ravenette said folding her arms,

Wanda shifted awkwardly at this, "And?"

"How can I help?"


	8. Planting the seed

"So are you excited about this ball?" Kate asked, widening her eyes as she applied mascara sparingly to her eyelashes,

"I mean, not especially-" Teddy replied, looking around the door of the walk in wardrobe he was getting changed in, "-it's to celebrate you and your article, so surely you're excited about it?" he said, raising an eyebrow at her,

The ravenette froze on the spot and slowly lowered the mascara brush, staring at the man she could just about see in the reflection of her mirror, her lips involuntarily parting as she was left speechless.

The ball was indeed to celebrate Kate and her article. The piece had been printed and published six weeks earlier and had had an immediate response. Sales of the paper had tripled almost overnight and Kate Bishop had become almost a household name within a day of the article being published.

Equally, public impression of the Maximoff's had improved drastically in almost no time at all; Billy and Tommy had apparently started receiving fan mail from young men and women alike, and Pietro too had been getting letters from women eager to 'fix him' as he had kept putting it. Wanda had been offered modelling jobs across the city as well as letters from magazines offering her lifestyle consultant positions while the head of the family, Erik Maximoff, had had a flood of company merger suggestions.

The article had been dubbed a 'true to life' and 'fascinating' account of a family which had previously been 'misunderstood' by the media.

Some had even called Kate the best investigative journalist of her generation.

"Of course" Kate said quickly, grabbing a tube of lipstick from her desk and opening it, "But you're going too, so I thought maybe you'd-" she then cut herself off, covering her bottom lip in a dusky pink colour, as she mumbled incohesively,

"I guess it'll be fun" Teddy then shrugged, slinking back out of sight again, "I hope I don't look like an idiot in this" came a grunt from him, as he apparently struggled with his tie, and thumped his elbow on the wall,

Kate laughed and turned in her chair, "I'm sure you'll look great, now come on, let me see".

After a slight pause, Teddy stepped from the wardrobe, a wince set across his face as he rubbed his sore elbow,

The suit complimented his body shape and fitted him well- not that Kate had doubted it would, she would even go as far as to say that he looked handsome, if not incredibly handsome, but of course, she didn't want his most flattering compliment to come from her tonight,

"Looking good Altman" she nodded, standing and brushing down the front of her violet coloured dress, "And me?" she asked, opening her arms to adulation.

"Very nice" he laughed, his hands going anxiously to his tie again as he moved over to the bedroom door,

"Oh, you really know how to flatter girl" Kate said rolling her eyes, she then picked up her small, neat bag and dropped a few final items into it, before joining Teddy at the door,

"M'lady" the blonde said grandiosely, offering her his arm,

"Oh, why thank you sir!" she replied, one hand over her heart dramatically as she hooked her elbow with his- they then of course both descended into a fit of rather unattractive snorts, stumbling from the room.

0o0o0

"Billy told me about the day you met you know" Kate smirked, glancing over at Teddy,

The blonde visibly flushed and slowly turned from the tinted limousine window he had been looking out of, "He did?",

"Mmhmm" she nodded looking back to her lap, still wearing her satisfied expression as she nonchalantly rummaged in her bag, looking for nothing in particular,

Teddy let out a shaky sigh as quietly as he could, and sat up straight, "How come he told you about that?"

"Because I asked" the ravenette shrugged, pretending to have missed his slight unease surrounding the subject.

"Why ask? I know it didn't end up in the article"

"Because I'm nosey" Kate laughed, looking back to him,

The blonde sighed again and shook his head,

"Oh come on! It was sweet!" she giggled, punching him playfully on the arm, "You… you make him really happy you know" she added, her amused smirk becoming a gentle, genuine smile.

"Well he makes me happy" Teddy replied, his cheeks then darkening further, "H-he's a good friend you know" he added swiftly,

"Hmm" Kate nodded, "You two seem to get along even better than me and you do"

"I don't know about that" the blonde said with an ever so slightly forced chuckle,

"Oh please, he told me about Halloween! I can totally see you dressing up as Captain America for him" she laughed,

"What!?" he yelped, his eyes wide and his entire face glowing as if it were badly sun burnt.

Kate could hardly stop herself from bursting into laughter, "You know, you dressed up as his favourite superhero, he dressed up as yours, you went to a party together, that's cool" she clarified, a smirk now taking over her face again,

"Oh… yeah" Teddy nodded slowly, looking back out of the window.

0o0o0

"It's been lovely having Teddy around so much more these days" Wanda said as she tightened Billy's bowtie for him, essentially holding him in the spot as she did so,

"What?" Billy asked in response, finding the statement particularly out of place, almost as out of place as his mother's request to attend to his bowtie, as he had been quite sure it looked fine,

"I just like having him around the house" she shrugged, "He's a lovely boy, and I've enjoyed his presence as of late",

"He's only been around more because Kate's been here" the ravenette mumbled, trying to look down to his bowtie to see what see was doing to it.

"Really?" Wanda asked quickly, placing a finger under his chin, to stop his eyes from going further downwards, "Because I got the impression that _he_ liked spending time here" she said, her eyes focussing on his, "And I also got the impression that _you_ also like having him around",

Billy stared at his mother in silence for a long moment, before laughing, albeit rather weakly, "Yeah I guess, he's my friend, so it's nice having him around",

"Hmm" Wanda muttered, looking at his bowtie once more, "All done" she nodded, swiftly stepping away from him, and drawing her attention instead to her other son, who was just coming down the stairs to meet them in the foyer, "What are you wearing around your neck?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"It's just a tie mom" Tommy shrugged, stopping on the lowest step and leaning on the banister,

"It's not the one you usually wear for functions" his mother replied,

The fair-haired teen smirked, "I know, I just thought I'd try something new",

"Hmm… is there any particular reason you're wearing that tie in particular?" Wanda asked, folding her arms over her chest,

"Maybe" Tommy laughed, hopping off the step and pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his suit trousers,

"Honestly" the brunette sighed in response, watching as her son left the foyer with his usual air of confidence.

0o0o0

Kate and Teddy could hardly stop themselves from gawking as they entered the foyer of the Maximoff mansion. By now they were of course used to its majesty and scale, but they had never seen it like this before,

Decorated with streamers of gold and silver, filled with strikingly beautiful and handsome guests dressed to the nines and practically glowing with signs of extravagant wealth,

"We should go and find Wanda, no doubt she'll want to see the guest of honour" Teddy said, tugging Kate's elbow gently, attempting to break her from her trance as she stared about the incredible room,

"What?" she replied, turning her head vaguely towards him, but not taking her eyes off the wonders before her,

"You Kate, she'll want to see you" the blonde replied,

"Oh, yeah, sorry" she finally nodded, falling into step with him as they entered the main hall of the mansions.

The room seemed to somehow have doubled in size since the last time they'd seen it, as the dining room now appeared to be more like a ballroom, decorated identically to the foyer, but with even more people filling it,

"Oh my god" Kate gasped, her eyes darting around the hall, hardly settling on one sceptical before they were distracted by another,

"I know" Teddy whispered, pulling her clumsily through the thicket of people, "I feel more than a little out of place" he said, dread rather than wonder covering his face,

"Teddy. Look. Russian princess. Russian princess!" the ravenette squealed, unable to stop herself from pointing to an absolutely stunning woman stood just a few feet away.

Natasha Romanoff, Russian athlete and model was the subject of Kate's excitement, and as they passed her, Teddy couldn't help but glance at the woman, as even he found himself both attracted to and intimidated by the fiercely alluring woman.

Miss Romanoff wasn't the only person who caught their attention as they searched for the Maximoff's however,

They saw renowned war hero Captain Rogers deep in conversation with the monosyllabic Sergeant Barnes, Miss Romanoff's finance,

They witnessed Commander Rhodes enthralling a crowd with stories of a mission the president had personally assigned him,

And they even saw Mr Tony Stark discussing something at length with Dr Banner, one of his closest associates, as Dr Scott Lang clearly attempted to keep up with what was being said with an enthusiastic smile, but desperate, confused eyes.

Every conversation they passed was more surreal than the next, especially when they passed, specialist airman Sam Wilson in a heated argument with the king of Wakanda,

Of course, this was then topped as they passed a waiter who was delivering a large foaming beer to the prince of some Baltic country, while his brother, the younger prince, glared at anyone who looked their way.

After a good ten minutes, if not longer of getting lost amongst the massively impressive celebrities filling the hall, Teddy and Kate eventually stumbled upon Wanda, Billy and Tommy.

She was in conversation with a man Kate actually knew personally, Mr Clint Barton, and the boys were stood around looking bored, and slightly nervous in Billy's case,

"Oh, here she is, guest of honour" Wanda beamed, looking past Mr Barton to where the journalist now stood,

"Ahh, Kate, good to see you" Mr Barton smiled, turning to greet her with an outstretched hand,

"You too Mr Barton sir" she nodded jovially, shaking his hand firmly, and ensuring to annunciate as best she could on the off chance he didn't have his hearing aids in,

"Come on Kate, you know you can call me Clint" he laughed, loosing her hand from his, "You do enough when you get a better score than me on the range, in fact, if I recall correctly, you've called me things a lot more offensive than just my name in the past" he added as he put his hands in his pockets.

The ravenette blushed a little, but nodded all the same,

"I'll be off then, I'll let you lot celebrate" the man beamed, turning back to Wanda and taking her hand,

"Thanks Clint" she agreed, kissing both of his cheeks as they parted,

"See you on the range next week Kate!" Barton then added with a wave as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Hello darling" Wanda than cheered, enveloping Kate into a hug,

"Hey" the ravenette blushed, smiling just as widely as she hugged the woman back,

"Everything's going as planned" the older woman said as they parted, "A few guests are still arriving, and the speeches aren't planned to go ahead for another hour or so, so you'll have lots of time to mingle and talk to people",

"Right" Kate nodded, letting out a deep, but shaky breath,

"Don't be nervous! These people are all here to celebrate your article, they're here to talk to you, so make the most of it" Wanda said, putting her warm, reassuring hand against the girl's jaw, "It'd surprise me if you didn't have a dozen interview offers by the evenings end",

The teen laughed, and nodded gently, "Okay. Thank you Mrs Maximoff",

"Wanda" the brunette corrected, before smiling knowingly at her and drifting off gracefully into the throng.

"Looking beautiful tonight Katie"

The serene feeling left in journalists by the older woman was gone as soon as she heard the words, and her eyes quickly fell on their origin.

Tommy was stood just a few feet away, a satisfied smile on his face,

"To think I forgot for even a second that you'd be here" Kate groaned, turning to face him head on,

"The only person who can be blamed for that is you Katie, I live here" he laughed, stepping closer to her,

"Stop calling me Katie Tommy" she hissed, glaring at him,

"Alright, alright, I'll stop. It is your night after all" the platinum haired teen nodded, putting an arm over her bare shoulders, "Fantastic dress by the way, strapless… very nice" he chuckled.

Kate's scowl then became more pronounced, until her eyes fell to the tie around his neck, and her expression became one of disgust instead, "What are you wearing?" she asked, pointing to the piece of knotted fabric,

"Oh, it's my new tie, do you like it?" he laughed, his spare hand going to the silk strip,

"It's… purple" the ravenette nearly spat,

"I know!" Tommy beamed, "I figured you'd be wearing purple, so I thought I'd match, you know, keep to a colour scheme".

Kate was just about to hurl a very well thought through insult at the teen when she was suddenly left stunned, half blinded and blinking by a bright flash,

When her version cleared, her eyes fell upon a young man she recognised well, his hands clutching a camera that almost appeared too large for him,

"Peter!" she snapped, knocking Tommy's arm from around her, "I told you that I want pictures of the guests, not of me! Delete that right now" she instructed him,

The young man looked dazed and a little frightened by the journalist as she waved her finger scoldingly at him.

Peter Parker was a photographer that worked for the same paper as Kate, and she had recruited him for the evening to take pictures of the event. While she usually wouldn't have minded this slip up of having her own picture taken, she definitely didn't want any evidence that she and Tommy were ever in the same room together, let alone evidence that he had ever touched her in any way whatsoever,

"Y-yes, sorry" Peter nodded, his fingers clumsily fiddling with the buttons and dials on the camera, "Except, it's not a digital so I can't-"

"Then just don't develop it okay!?" Kate snapped, cutting him off, "Now go! Take pictures of someone, _anyone_ else",

With that the young photographer darted off, nodding quickly as he did.

"Ooh Kate, you're so hot when you're angry" Tommy purred,

"Oh, shut up you" she growled, finally turning her attention to the amused faces of Teddy and Billy who had been watching everything during the last ten minutes play out.

"Anyway, Billy, how are you?" Kate sighed, straightening down her dress again,

"I'm alright" the teen nodded, "These kinds of parties aren't really my scene though" he shrugged,

"You're looking a little pale" the girl said, putting on a slight frown, "Well, more pale than usual…maybe you should step outside for some fresh air?" she suggested,

"Sure, I guess" Billy nodded, starting to turn towards the exit of the dining room,

"Wait" Kate said quickly, taking his wrist, "Maybe… maybe you should go out onto the balcony instead?" she added urgently, trying to think of a reason to justify her suggestion, "The foyer is so rammed full of people, you'll have a hard time getting out of the front door. But the balcony looks practically empty" she said, the balcony entirely out of her view,

"Oh, I suppose you're right" he nodded, extracting his wrist from her grip slowly, somewhat deterred by her sudden odd behaviour.

"Good, good" she said, straightening up and backing away a little, "Oh and… Teddy, why don't you go with him? Make sure he gets there okay?" she asked, turning to the blonde,

"Err, sure" Teddy shrugged, he then turned to Billy and smiled softly, giving him a little shrug too,

The two young men then began their way towards the balcony doors, disappearing from sight between the hundreds of guests quickly.

"Very smooth Katie, very smooth" Tommy commented, placing his arm around her again, this time resting it around her waist,

"Firstly, you're going to want to remove that arm if you want to keep it, and secondly, call me Katie one more time, and I'll be forced to rip your voice box out" Kate growled in a low voice,

"Got ya" Tommy nodded, slowly removing his arm from her.


	9. Success

The cold night outside of the party felt like a totally different world as Billy and Teddy stepped out into it. The garden was mostly cast in shadow, appearing in many shades of murky blue, but the first few rows of bushes had light from the mansion thrown onto them, making them glow dully.

"This is better" Teddy nodded as he closed the balcony door behind them, cutting off all of the noise from the party in an instant,

"Hmm" Billy agreed fondly, smiling down at the dark garden, his head resting on his tabled palm, sprouting from his elbow that rested against the balcony wall,

"It's a little cold though, are you okay?" the blonde asked as a small gust of icy air rolled past them, making the thousands of leaves beneath them rustle and clap,

"It's fine, come over here" the other teen nodded, his eyes still fixed ahead on the expanse of lawn and shrubbery.

Teddy took a deep, steadying breath from where he still stood at the balcony door, and then with a single nod, he started forward, joining Billy.

The ravenette let out a happy sigh, "I love it out here, the quiet, the view, the-"

"The company?" Teddy suggested with a nervous chuckle,

The other laughed back and finally tore his eyes from the garden, letting them settle instead on the blue eyes that were watching him so closely.

"Yeah, that's good too" he smiled, "Don't you think?"

"Definitely"

0o0o0

"How's it going?"

Kate nearly jumped out of her skin as the question was asked.

She had been stooped by the wall, peering through a miniscule gap in the curtain that separated the vast ball room from the view of the garden outside, and of course, the balcony,

The ravenette sighed and stood up straight, regarding Tommy with a scowl as she did so,

"I don't know, I haven't got super hearing, have I?" she hissed, folding her arms across her chest tightly,

"So, what? They're just talking?" the other teen asked, looking a little disappointed.

"Looks like it" Kate nodded, gripping the curtain and going to crouch once more to look through the gap,

"Let me look" Tommy insisted however, moving forward, practically knocking her off her feet as he did so,

"No!" the reporter huffed, nudging him back, keeping a resolute grasp on the thick, red curtains.

"Oh, come on, I just want to look for a second! What if they're kissing or something?" the blonde asked, tugging at the fabric,

"Eww! He's your brother!" Kate griped, trying not to draw too much attention to herself and the boy she was arguing with, while still trying to win the battle for the curtain,

"Ehh, not for that reason! I just want to know if it's going well" Tommy replied,

"Then let _me_ look, and I'll _tell_ you if it is",

"Just let _me_ look!"

With that the blonde gave a final sharp push to Kate's side, and she went toppling to the ground.

Tommy certainly hadn't expected that to happen, but he definitely hadn't anticipated Kate grabbing onto his tie in a wild attempt to stay upright, causing him too to fall to the floor.

The entire thing had happened so quickly, that both were quite unsure as to how it had in fact happened, but the next thing they knew, Kate was lying with her back to the ground, one hand gripping Tommy's tie tightly, and he was in turn lying on top of her, one hand spread on the tile keeping his weight off the reporter, but the other pressed firmly against one of her breasts.

With wide eyes, they stared at each other for a long, awkward moment,

"Get. Off. Me" Kate eventually hissed, her words coming from within her firmly clenched jaw,

Far too shocked to find the situation funny, Tommy did exactly as he was told, getting off of her in a blink of an eye.

The blonde scrambled to his feet, straightening his clothes as he did, and checking that no one had seen their mishap -in particular Peter-, he then offered his hand to Kate who was still on the ground,

The ravenette took his hand, and stood quickly, letting go of his appendage as soon as she was on her feet,

"Did anyone see?" she asked with a murmur, smoothing down her dress.

"I don't think so" Tommy answered, pulling one hand through his crystal blonde locks, his usually pale face having taken on a slightly rosy hue,

"Good" Kate said swiftly, "And if you ever tell anyone that this happened, I swear to God I will-"

"Kill me or doing something horrendous to my testicles?" the teen supplied,

The reporter glared at him, "Yes" she snapped, "Now, let _me_ look again" she huffed, stooping down to the break in the curtains again.

0o0o0

"Is it just me, or has Kate been acting weird recently?" Teddy asked, frowning as he spoke,

"I don't know, maybe a little" Billy replied, matching his expression,

"And Tommy-"

"Well that's nothing out of the ordinary"

"-and even your mom",

The ravenette then paused to think on that, "I suppose she has… she just keeps saying all these random things, with no context, that just seem to come from nowhere" he shrugged.

"What sorts of things?" Teddy asked, looking closely at the other teen,

Billy then let out a small chuckle, "Well…" he trailed off, glancing up at the blonde now and again, trying to gauge what his reaction might be even before he spoke, "She's been talking about you a lot",

"Really?" he replied arching one eyebrow high up his forehead.

"Yeah" he nodded, a gentle blush settling across his cheeks, "What's Kate been doing that's so weird?" he then asked, attempting to change the subject swiftly,

"Well, she's been talking about you a lot actually" Teddy admitted, letting out a deep breath,

"Me?" Billy could feel the flush on his face building,

"Uh huh" the blonde nodded.

The two then cast their eyes back over the garden, watching as their breath coiled visibly from their mouths, the evening cold starting to settle into their bones,

"What kind of stuff does your mom say about me?" Teddy asked suddenly,

Billy looked across to the other teen, but found that his eyes were still set on somewhere out in the greenery, he shrugged, "Just how much she likes having you around the mansion, and how you and I get along so well, and how, well…"

"'How' what?" Teddy carried on, looking down to the ravenette, their eyes locking immediately.

"How we make a good couple" he concluded, "Err, I- I mean, how we make a good couple _of people_ , people who are- who are friends" he added quickly, his cheeks now glowing red, visible even in the dark,

"'A good couple', huh?" the blonde quoted, his gaze still set intently on Billy's,

"Ehh! Why is this so difficult!" the other suddenly cried, his hands covering his face, as he turned away from Teddy in embarrassment.

"What! What is it?" he asked, becoming concerned in an instant,

"I can't say it" Billy whined helplessly,

"Why not?" Teddy frowned, taking a small step forward, his hand outstretched to the ravenette,

"Because it could change everything-" he sighed, sounding desperate as he began to pace about the balcony, "-it could change our friendship, it could change what my family thinks of me, it could change what you think-"

Billy's words were swallowed quickly as the blonde's lips closed around his in that moment however.

Both teens melted into the steady kiss, their arms wrapping loosely around each other's shoulders or waists, their lips moving back and forth easily against one another's,

"That's what I think of you" Teddy sighed as they pulled away, their hands still gripping each other tenderly, and his eyes still closed tightly, "I didn't want you to get the wrong idea, so I had to just show you… what were you going to say?",

"I like you Teddy, I like you, so, so much" Billy gasped, grasping the fabric of the other's suits securely.

"You like me?" the blonde asked, wincing a little,

"I do, I really do… I _like_ like you" the other then chuckled, his blushing having not subsided, but in fact gotten darker if that was at all possible,

Teddy's eyes opened and he gazed down at the smiling teen before him. He couldn't help but laugh softly, and take one of his searing hot cheeks into his hands, "I like like you too"

"Show me again" Billy beamed, moments away from swooning,

"Gladly" the teen chuckled, before drawing the other into another deep, fond kiss.

0o0o0

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Kate chanted, standing from her crouched position at the curtain so quickly that _she_ nearly knocked Tommy from his feet this time,

"What is it?" he asked, holding out his arms to invite the answer,

"I need to find your mom, I need to find your mom right now!" the ravenette replied, looking wildly across the massive room before them, in the hopes that she might get even a single glance of the woman in question.

"Why? What happened?" Tommy asked,

"Look for yourself!" she called in response, already heading off to wade through the ginormous crowd, ecstatic to tell Wanda the good news.

The blonde watched the excited girl leave, and then stooped by the curtain the moment she was out of sight, peering as she had, out onto the balcony,

Billy and Teddy were stood, embraced on the balcony, their faces plastered with uncannily happy expressions,

Tommy then watched as his brother pitched up onto his toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his companion's lips,

"About frickin' time you dorks" he smirked.

0o0o0

Wanda hadn't seen either of her sons, Teddy or Kate for over half an hour, and she had chosen to take that as a good thing, as it may well have meant that the plan was in full motion. Then again, it could also have meant that there were just too many damn people at this party, making it impossible to find anyone anyway, but she was choosing to be an optimist on this occasion instead.

Wanda then lifted her champagne flute slowly to her lips with a sigh, trying to look as unassuming as possible as to avoid being brought into a conversation, her eyes scanning over the immediate crowd to look for potential problem guests or those that might be worth saying hello to at the very least.

The ever ready to debate Tony Stark was now talking with Captain Rogers, clearly having an argument of some kind that they were trying to hide from the other guests, failing quite miserably to do so however,

 _At least it kept Stark from trying to talk to her_.

Clint was also occupied though, having been in a deep conversation with Miss Romanoff for the past several minutes,

Wanda wouldn't have minded talking to him, the two of them having developed a pleasant friendship, but she knew that when he was talking to Natasha, there was practically no way of getting his attention.

The brunette sighed again and took another deep gulp of champagne, the bubbles stinging her throat a little as they went down,

"Not having a good time?",

Brows furrowed, Wanda looked up,

She was met with a dark crumpled suit, pale blonde hair that had been blown every which way by the wind, and a bright, if not slightly exhausted smile.

"Victor!"

The couple were embracing in a moment, hurried words of welcome and laughter passing by their lips,

As they parted, Victor took his wife's cheek into his hand, and he smiled down at her, watching as words failed her, and tears began to well in her eyes,

"I- I missed you" she managed to say, shrugging softly as he skimmed his thumb over her cheek bone gently, barely grazing her skin,

"I know" he chuckled, before drawing her into a long, deep kiss, his other hand tangling into her delicate waves of hair.

"I love you, you know" Wanda laughed as they pulled away from one another once again,

"And I love you, more than quite a bit, in fact" he smirked in response, letting his hands rest on her hips,

The brunette sighed happily, "You've missed a lot this time you know",

"I got that impression, yes" Victor chuckled, looking about the ball room and its wall to wall guests,

"I'll explain, shouldn't take too long… and even if it does, I don't mind",

"Well, I did read the article, so that covers a lot of it" he replied, "And I'd quite like to meet this Katherine myself",

"Well-" Wanda nodded, giving him a pat to the chest, directly on his lapel, "-she'll be around here somewhere".

0o0o0

Kate had done an entire circuit of the hall, only to find herself back at the balcony door without having once seen Wanda. She wasn't surprised that she hadn't found her, the room was so rammed full of people, that many guests hadn't even made it in, instead opting to converse in the foyer, but that made it no less frustrating.

She was pitched up on her tiptoes, trying to see over the closest row of people when Tommy approached her again,

"Did you find my mom?" he asked, slipping one of his hands slowly onto her hip, as he too craned his long neck to look about,

"Yeah Tommy, in fact I'm talking to her right now, instead of having to put up with you, and your annoyingly persistent need to put your hands all over me" Kate answered, actively keeping her eyes off of him.

"Right" the blonde grumbled, removing his grip on her, "Well they're still out there, but we should probably find her as soon as-"

At that moment the balcony door opened, and Teddy and Billy re-entered the hall,

"Hey guys" Kate nodded to them, her eyes fixed on their joined hands,

"Hey" Billy nodded quickly, his eyes clearly scanning for the fastest route out of the room, a huge smile covering his face, and his face flushed,

"See you later" Teddy chuckled, his cheeks also glowing a warm pink colour.

"Yeah…later" Tommy nodded, watching them pass with wide eyed surprise,

The two teens were then out of sight, fighting their way through the crowd, their hands holding tightly onto one another as they went,

"Huh" Kate nodded, "Well at least we know it worked" …

0o0o0

"-but that's not even the best thing to happen" Wanda laughed, slowly drifting between guests, her hand holding onto her husbands as she guided him through,

"How can anything be better than that?" Victor replied, "From the looks of this party, the article was a true success",

"There's been another success… or at least, there's going to be. I hope" the brunette smiled, biting her lip apprehensively as they came to a natural break in the thicket of people.

As the couple paused, checking either direction, Billy rocketed passed, Teddy close behind him,

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" Wanda asked, backing away to avoid getting hit by them,

"Oh, sorry mom!" Billy yelped in response, pausing for just a second, a ridiculously large smile on his face,

Teddy was stood just at his flank, wearing an equally bright smile, his breath racing,

"I-It's okay" Wanda nodded, trying to keep her eyes off their joined hands, pretending she hadn't noticed, "It's okay" she said again, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards, "You two have a good evening" she then added,

Both boys nodded to her, laughing softly, before starting back off, darting between the people around them.

"What was all that about? He didn't even notice I was here" Victor asked, trying to spot his retreating son,

Wanda laughed, drawing him into another hug, "I'll explain later".


	10. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

Kate woke with a start.

The evening before had been an entirely surreal experience and it had left her both exhausted and disorientated.

There had been conversations with famous millionaires, models, sportsmen and even royals, dozens of them giving her their contact information, so that she might write an article on them too, one that was just as 'wonderful' as that she had written for the Maximoffs. There had been platters and plates of outrageously expensive drinks and Hors d'oeuvres, just far too many of them if anything. Picture after picture of handshakes and embraces had been taken, making Kate feel as important as those she appeared with in the images.

It had passed by in a whirlwind, and she had revelled in every moment of it.

Well, almost every moment. The moments with Tommy were slightly less enjoyed, but at least there had been a little pay off to them. It seemed that they had managed to get Billy and Teddy together, and that was more than a little pleasing.

Kate groaned and sunk further into the supple mattress she lay on, and her arms wound around the clean white pillow beneath her head,

It was far too bright this morning, at opening her eyes she could barely managed to see her surroundings, much less notice that something was off about them. But something was, something massive that he sleep addled brain couldn't process.

Usually she remembered to close her blinds before she went to bed, perhaps that was it, it would explain the outrageously bright sunspot that filled the room at least.

Satisfied that that was the answer, Kate sighed and nuzzled into the pillow, perfectly content to fall back to sleep for many, many hours,

A soft chuckle from someone else's lips made her world come crashing down around her however,

"Morning Katie",

Her eyes shot open, and to her great horror, Tommy was lying in the bed beside her.

He was resting his head on his tabled palm, a huge grin set into his face, and the white bed linens barely keeping him decent, as they fell around his bare pelvis.

The ravenette immediately stretched out her arms and gathered as much of the covers to bundled around her own body as she could, suddenly very, very awake and aware,

Tommy laughed and tugged some of the covers back, ensuring that he wasn't left completely exposed, for which she was actually fairly grateful, even if her anger and confusion over bared that.

"What. The. Hell. Tommy?" she growled, glaring at him and seething beyond belief,

The blonde chuckled and slipped one hand through his hair, "We had a good night, you and I",

"Really? Because I don't fucking remember" she hissed.

He tutted and shook his head, "That's a real shame" he frowned, "It really was something",

Kate sat up quickly and began to look about the floor around them, trying to find her clothes, " _Something_ I'm sure I was too drunk to even recognise as a bad decision",

"You seemed pretty for it actually" Tommy replied with a shrug,

The reporter managed to separate the sheet she was wrapped in from the one keeping him covered, and she wobbled to her feet, stumbling about as she collected clothes and dumped them on the bed where she had been laying.

"In fact, you specifically kept saying how you really hadn't had that much to drink" the blond went on, now looking at his nails, "Something about how you couldn't be caught acting like a drunken idiot at a big press event"

Kate paused and sighed. She did indeed remember saying something to that effect.

In fact, she was actually starting to remember quite a lot, much to her distress.

As if he had been reading her mind, Tommy spoke up again, "I really hope you remember last night, I've got to say, it was pretty fantastic" he was now back to smiling,

She huffed in response and whipped around to face him, "Not a word about this to _anyone_ ",

"Yeah, you said that a lot last night too" he sighed, settling back into the mattress, his hands behind his head.

Kate's face twisted into a horrible grimace as she crouched by the bed, looking for her right shoe which was still lost;

It was all very clear now actually, she could recall what had happened almost down to a tee.

0o0o0

She was milling around in the corridor outside of the hall, just catching her breath for a moment.

She wasn't the only one, a few of the minor celebrities had also taken a moment to themselves, and many of the bodyguards of different high-ranking officials and royalty members had stepped out too. Most were women, and Kate took great pride in that, especially as most were women of colour- King T'Challa's personal guard for example, and prince Odinson's best army general.

Peter was also around, taking a break from being bounced around between adults like a ball bearing in a pin ball machine. He was currently laughing wildly, watching something on the princess of Wakanada's phone, who was holding up the small screen so he could see, a huge entertained smile on her face.

Kate was fairly sure that her photographer did not know who she was, but he was enjoying himself and knowledge would only make him embarrassed.

She sighed and leant on the wall, letting herself blend into the shadow,

As fantastic as this opportunity was, it was also more than a little intimidating, and a quiet moment was all she really wanted.

Her silence didn't last long however, as Tommy broke out from the doorway ahead of her, catching sight of her immediately,

"How's your evening going?" he asked, sliding up to join her against the wall,

"Oh you know, it was going alright" Kate said with a shrug, "I just came out here for some fresh air, and then I got this awful headache",

"Oh, you've got a headache?"

She turned to look at him, her response deadpan, "It's a very recent development",

"Oh, very witty Katie" Tommy replied, laughing.

Her expression was still steely and unamused however, "Don't call me Katie, how many times have I told you?",

"Yeah, yeah, I remember, sorry" he said rolling his eyes.

The blond ducked his head, looking about their surroundings, as though assuring that they weren't being watched. His tone then also dropped as he next regarded Kate,

"Want to end the evening with a bang?" he asked softly, smirking,

She stared at him for a long moment, her face unchanging, "You are just the worst, you know that? The actual worst person I have ever met",

Tommy shrugged, "The offer still stands",

The ravenette opened her mouth, prepared to reprimand him as usual, but the muffled sound of explosions in the distance cut her off,

"Oh, would you look at that?" she asked, suddenly very amused, "The fireworks have started, _so I get to end my evening with a bang_ ",

Kate whisked past him and headed back to the hall, dodging through people quickly to get out to the balcony.

She grabbed another glass of champagne on the way there, and once people recognised her squeezing past them, a small path emerged so that she could get a good spot from which to watch the fireworks. They were partly in honour of her after all.

High above them, rockets exploded in the pitch-black sky, scattering bright embers, like golden and silver stars.

The crowd of celebrities that had bundled onto the large balcony cheered as they watched, speaking with delight to one another.

Stood alone, Kate sipped from her champagne and leant on the stone wall railing, smiling softly as firework after firework exploded.

A few feet away, Wanda stood in a half embrace with her husband, absolutely mesmerised by the twirling lines of light in the sky; as she watched them, eyes full of wonderment and her lips parted in breathlessness, Victor in turn watched her, smiling broadly at his beautiful wife. He couldn't have cared less about the fireworks, in this moment, all that mattered was the mother of his children. The woman he hadn't seen for weeks and was indescribably in love with. It was so easy to see all that just laid bare on his face.

Kate sighed and slumped in stature rather, opting instead to look down at the even larger collection of people who had gone out onto the garden below to watch the display.

She could pick out a few people from the crowns of their heads: Natasha Romanoff was easy enough to find, along with Pepper Potts for obvious reason,

But the people who really caught her eye were Billy and Teddy, who were slightly apart from crowd.

They were sitting on a marble bench, closed in on one side by a tall, but well-groomed bush, half cutting them off from the view of everyone else on the lawn. They were both watching the fireworks, the lights glimmering across their faces, as they smiled up at them.

Kate was less focused on their faces however, and was more concentrated on the way their hands lay in the gap between them on the bench. Their palms were clasped together, and their fingers were entwined,

It was a small thing, but it was infinitely beautiful as far as she was concerned.

Teddy was her friend, but she barely recognised him here, sitting in this situation. She'd seen him happy, but she'd never seen him this happy. It was kind of amazing, especially after knowing him through the strife of losing his mother too. Sat there with Billy, he seemed like a man who had never known suffering.

Everyone was so happy to be together, to have a person beside them with which to share the moment.

The ravenette huffed and stood up straight again, putting her hands to her arms, and rubbing a bit of warmth into them as the night air cooled.

It was getting late now, they were probably in the early morning hours, and soon everyone would start to leave, as the fireworks were meant to be a signal that the party was coming to an end.

Kate sighed and turned away from the display, making her way at a much slower pace, back through the crowd, which once again parted for her, accompanied by many surprised faces as the people she passed clearly wondered why she -the guest of honour- would be leaving so soon.

She wasn't heading to leave though, not just yet.

Kate stepped back out into the corridor which was now almost empty, and she wasn't too surprised to find that Tommy had moved too, although not far.

He was stood in the doorway leading to the front drive, locked in casual conversation with someone just outside,

Getting a little closer, Kate was able to see that it was his uncle, who she suddenly recalled having hardly seen throughout the entire party.

He was dressed for it all the same though, even if he was now looking a little dishevelled; his pale blue tie was loosened a good few inches from his collar, and the buttons of his shirt above it were unfastened too. His dark grey blazer was folded over one arm, and his other hand was holding a lit cigarette which he seemed to be mostly ignoring as he spoke to his nephew.

Tommy had dressed down too, his tie draped around his shoulders.

He was laughing at something Pietro had said, but apparently could also tell he was being watched, and quickly turned once he had swiftly concluded the conversation he was having.

He paused in the doorway upon seeing Kate, and he laughed softly, "Everything alright?" he asked, taking one step towards her, his hands slipping into his trouser pockets,

The ravenette frowned -she would kick herself for this later- "Come here" she said softly,

"Hmm?" he replied, raising his brow at her,

"Come here" she repeated.

Tommy chuckled softly and nodded, "Okay", he began towards her, taking his time to cross the short space, "What is it?" he asked, looking down at her, only a foot or so away,

Kate reach out her hand and hooked one of the gaps between the buttons of his shirt with her fingers, tugging him forward,

Even the blond looked surprised,

"This never happened" she said firmly,

"I don't even know what's happening" he said with a nervous chuckle.

Kate rolled her eyes at him, "Just kiss me you moron",

Tommy shrugged and took her by the hips, pulling her in for a firm kiss,

The ravenette gripped his shoulders, not quite expecting a kiss quite as enthusiastic as that which he was delivering, but she held the contact all the same, blinking in shock when he finally pulled away.

"How was that?" he asked with a smirk,

She blinked again, and then shook her head, stiffening her grip on his shoulders, "It was alright" she replied, before harshly pushing away, so that his back collided with the wall,

The blond winced and snapped, "Hey! What the-"

But Kate cut him off with another kiss that she now guided, and he obliged immediately, taking her waist in his hands.

"Are you like… drunk or something?" Tommy asked as she finally separated their lips, "Not that I don't appreciate this-" he added with a laugh, "-but it seems kind of out of character",

"No, not drunk" the ravenette replied, shaking her head and unbuttoning the top of his shirt, "You really think I'd get drunk at something like this? _I_ have a photographer wandering about for Christ's sake" she said, opening his shirt low enough to put her hands on his collar and the top of his chest,

"Then why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow again.

Kate finally looked back to him, staring into his eyes. She shrugged and ran the pads of her thumbs over his collarbones, "Can we not talk about it?"

0o0o0

"I have to say, I'm still pretty curious as to why you changed your mind" Tommy said, watching as Kate finally fastened the back of her dress and turned to regard him,

"Well you're going to go on wondering. It was a one-time thing, it will never happen- in fact no- it _never_ happened at all" she insisted,

"Fine" he sighed, lounging across the mattress, "Although, you know, we could make it a two-time thing? You just need to slip out of that number again and get back into bed" he smirked,

Kate paused and glared at him again,

"It never happened" he said with a frown, shaking his head.

"Good" she nodded, "Now, I'm gonna go, keep. Your. Mouth. Shut",

"Yes Miss Bishop" Tommy said, folding his hands together in his lap,

She rolled her eyes at him and headed for the door,

"But-"

The ravenette paused and looked at him again,

"-if you ever want this to 'never happen' again… call me?" Tommy asked, now grinning at her again,

Kate faltered. She couldn't help it, her cheeks were burning, glowing bright red. Her lips parted, but she couldn't find the words to offer him a retort, not this time.

"See you" he beamed, smiling like a fool as she slammed his bedroom door behind her.


End file.
